Tough task ahead for state board students

With CBSE and ICSE schools in the city seeing a large number of high scorers, getting a spot in some of the most coveted colleges may be tough for state board students.

With CBSE and ICSE schools in the city seeing a large number of high scorers, getting a spot in some of the most coveted colleges may be tough for state board students.

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This year, 20% of all Class 10 ICSE students who took their exams from the country scored 90.2% and above. Principals said the government needs to consider some equivalence formula to ensure that state board students do not lose out. “Every year, there is a trend which shows that students from other boards take some of the top spots in prominent colleges across the city. This year, the situation can get worse because scores of students, especially from ICSE and IGCSE, are more than expected,” said the principal of a suburban college.

Ashok Wadia, principal, Jai Hind College, said, “The equivalence formula would benefit all students, making the process fair for all.”

Some principals also said college preferences of students are likely to change due to the current situation.

In 2019, the Mumbai divisional board had received nearly 1.85 lakh applications from students for the general admission round. While nearly 1.68 lakh were from the state board, the second highest number of applicants came from ICSE (7,881).

The Maharashtra State Youth Congress wrote to state education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday requesting the government to reserve certain seats in junior colleges for state board students this year.