Over 1.85 lakh seats vacant after third round of FYJC admission in Mumbai Metropolitan Region; special round on December 20

Nearly 1.85 lakh first-year junior college (FYJC) seats remain vacant in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) after the third admission round concluded on Friday.

Nearly 1.85 lakh first-year junior college (FYJC) seats remain vacant in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) after the third admission round concluded on Friday. Of the 45,402 students who were allotted college seats in the third list, which was declared on December 15, only 14,074 students took admission.

(Representative image) This year, the Maharashtra education department had declared that there will be no first-come-first-served (FCFS) rounds for FYJC admissions (HT Photo)

Friday was the last day for students to confirm their admissions in the third round. After the third round, junior colleges have also been allowed to surrender the vacant seats under various quotas like minority, management and in-house. As per the data on the state education department’s official website, as of Friday, nearly 62,000 seats were vacant in the three quotas, with the highest being from minority quota – nearly 42,000. Colleges will be allowed to surrender their quota seats by December 19.

The department will declare the college-wise vacancies for the special round on December 20. The schedule for the special round of admission is yet to be declared. “While most high-scorers have already taken admission, those with average scores might have tried for a better college during the last two rounds. Most prominent colleges thus, have filled most of their general seats,” said the principal of a south Mumbai-based college.

This year, the department had declared that there will be no first-come-first-served (FCFS) rounds for admissions. Instead, special rounds will 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.