City gets 33% more seats in jr college vocational courses

There will be 3,966 more seats in the vocational or bifocal streams at the junior college level this year, a rise of 30% over the last academic year.

There will be 3,966 more seats in the vocational or bifocal streams at the junior college level this year, a rise of 30% over the last academic year.

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Seats in vocational streams are the most sought-after at this level because vocational students can choose to drop a language and opt for subjects such as electrical maintenance or banking, which are perceived to be high-scoring.

Last year, before admissions began, there were 11,860 vocational seats in the Mumbai region, with the figure rising to 12,533 during admissions.

This year, ahead of the admissions, there are 15,826 seats in this stream with 1,225 for commerce vocational and 14,601 for the science vocational streams.

“Colleges have added new divisions, hence the increase,” said an official from the state education department.

Not all vocational seats, however, will be available through the online admission process.

Last year, 63% were allotted online, with 31,131 students vying for 7,906 seats. In all, the number of junior college seats available this year has gone up by 4% or 10,709 seats, with 2,303 more seats in Science (general) and 4,540 more seats in Commerce (general).

Seats in the Arts stream have fallen from 36,789 last year to 35,859 this year, in a further indication of its declining popularity.