Mumbai: New proposed changes to simplify FYJC admissions process

Students will be able to confirm admission at the click of a button

After the chaos in first-year junior college (FYJC) admissions this year, the education department has proposed measures to make the process easier in the next academic year.

The education department has proposed measures to make the admission process easier in 2017 (HT File photo)

Students could be allowed to change their list of college preferences after every round of admission. They will also be allowed to confirm their admission at the click of a button, in addition to online allotment of colleges.

This year, although 2.3 lakh students secured admissions in the drawn-out admission process spanning over three months- June to September, multiple rounds were conducted as students’ didn’t get their preferred colleges despite scoring well.

According to BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region, the online seat confirmation will streamline the admission process. “Currently, only the allotment of colleges is done online, while admissions are done offline. We are thinking about allowing admissions online too,” he said. He, however, clarified that the students would still have to visit respective colleges to pay their fees and complete other formalities.

Chavan also said that allowing students to alter their college choices after every round will help students land a seat in their desired college. According to him, if students are not allowed to change their preferences after an admission round, they lose a chance to apply for vacant seats in a more preferred college.

This year, the students were allowed to change their options after the third round was over.

Chavan also said that the department will also likely bring down the number of college-course combinations students are required to mark in their applications. “The move will help avoid confusion among parents, as they will have to fill only few choices,” he said.

The education department is also considering a proposal to outsource the online form filling to third party service providers to reduce its dependency on schools. “Many a times, the students are compelled to choose their own school as their preferred choice,” he said.