Counting 7 subjects is discriminatory, says ICSE Board

Gerry Arathoon, the ICSE Board head, on Wednesday said it would be “discriminatory” if the Maharsahtra government decided to count the marks in seven subjects for ICSE students seeking admission to junior college.

Gerry Arathoon, the ICSE Board head, on Wednesday said it would be “discriminatory” if the Maharsahtra government decided to count the marks in seven subjects for ICSE students seeking admission to junior college.

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“We clearly state that for admission within our board or outside it, a student’s average percentage should be on the basis of English plus four subjects,” Arathoon told Hindustan Times from Delhi. “If the government is counting the best five subjects for the state board students, then why not for ours? That is discriminatory,” he said.

Junior college admissions will begin after the SSC results are declared later this month. In February, the state government had announced the ‘best five’ policy for SSC students —marks for only five of the six subjects would be considered for admission. But the government is yet to clarify how the average percentage will be calculated for ICSE students, who appear for seven papers.

Education Minister Balasaheb Thorat and assistant director, education, N.B. Chavan, could not be reached as they were in meetings. An official said: “The ball is in the ICSE Board’s court. If they have seven subjects we will count seven, if they have five then we count five. It is not for the state government to decide for an autonomous board how many subjects should be considered for its students.”

Students are worried. “It’s not fair if they are going to count all our subjects but only five subjects of SSC students because then their percentage will be higher,” said Anushka Duttagupta (16), who completed her ICSE from Hiranandani Foundation School in Powai.

“We will approach the education department once we meet and discuss the issue among ourselves,” said Carl Laurie, principal of Christchurch School.

Last year, Ruia, SIES and Jai Hind had counted ICSE students’ marks in all seven subjects. St Xavier’s College took into consideration marks in five subjects for ICSE students.