Pune: Amidst confusion and fear surrounding class X result of State Board students and admissions to class XI, the new State Education Minister Ashish Shelar has declared that the number of seats for class XI will be increased by eight per cent. The decision has been made to assure the students passing the examination through the State Board that they, too, have a chance at getting admission at good colleges for class XI.
Also, students and parents of other boards have heaved a sigh of relief as the minister has stated that internal marks of students of other boards will not be excluded in the class XI admission process.
“Increase in the number of seats would help the students of State Board too to get admission in good colleges, however, the picture is very unclear as of now. Usually, by this time, the process would begin and at least one round of admissions would start. But since it has been delayed this year, it is difficult to comment right now,” a city-based school principal said.
Earlier, the State government had faced a flak when the education department had stated that it has requested the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) to permit the Maharashtra government to exclude the internal marks of their students from the overall score, while considering for class XI admission.
“The earlier decision was unfair for the students of CBSE and others. Even now, if the extra eight per cent seats are only for the students of the state board, it would be discrimination. However, as long as the decision is in the interest of the students, we welcome it,” said Adv Anubha Sahai.
