FYJC admissions: Over 1.38 lakh seats vacant after 4 rounds in Mumbai

More than 1.38 lakh first-year junior college (FYJC) seats in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) remain vacant after four admission rounds this year, data shared

More than 1.38 lakh first-year junior college (FYJC) seats in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) remain vacant after four admission rounds this year, data shared by the education department has revealed. The second special round for admissions will begin on January 1 and the second special merit-list will be declared on January 5.

Representational pictiure.

At the end of the special admission round which concluded on Thursday evening, of the 59,322 students who were allotted seats in the round, 44,359 confirmed their seats. The state education department will upload a list of final vacancies on Friday.

After the seats under various quotas including management, minority and inhouse were surrendered post third round admissions, cut-offs in prominent colleges fell for the special list which was declared on December 28. Meanwhile, several colleges have decided to start classes from this week as more than 90% seats are filled after the special round.

This year, the department had declared that there will be no first come first served (FCFS) rounds for admissions. Instead, special rounds would be conducted for students who do not get admission in regular rounds. FCFS rounds usually follow regular admission rounds wherein students can claim seats against vacancies across colleges in a particular city or district and are allotted seats based on who claims them first.

These rounds were introduced in the academic year 2018-19 but were criticised by many parents and experts as they allowed students with lower scores to get into top colleges against vacant seats.