Not enough plus two seats for those who passed
Number of Plus one seats available remain at 3,38, 500 (3, 35, 400 last year)
By : krishna kumar k.e
Update: 2014-04-17 07:45 GMT
Kochi: There are just not enough seats for students if all those who cleared the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination, opting to continue their studies.
While a total of 4, 42, 678 students passed the exam, an increase of 1.3 per cent compared to last year, the total number of Plus One seats available remain almost the same -- 3, 38, 500 (3, 35, 400 last year).“The gap further increased this year, but this mostly affected those in the cities and urban areas, where getting admission will be difficult. However, the Education Minister has announced steps to address the concern,” said the Higher Education Joint Director (Academics), K Mohana Kumar.
The Education Minister, P K Abdu Rabb, said the Government would open higher secondary schools in 148 panchayats this academic year, following a favorable court verdict recently. However, that does not solve the problem much, as the figures for the last three years show there were 25, 185, 50 697 and 35, 962 vacant Plus One seats respectively for 2013-14, 2012-13 and 2011-12 academic years.
“Don’t be confused…the vacant seats are in the rural areas where students opt for courses like ITI, ITC and Polytechnic courses after passing out of the Class 10th. But in cities and urban areas, the situation is just the opposite,” said Anil Kumar, former Higher Education Joint Director.
However, the minister assured that the Government is also considering upgrading of high schools in high-demand areas, to higher secondary schools.
Meanwhile, the CBSE Schools Management Association expressed concern that those students who opted to change to state syllabus, by writing the board exams, would be affected by the early declaration of SSLC results. “Last time it happened. Now they will close the admission procedures in one month, but, the CBSE results would come only on May 15. We request the Government to give a fair chance to our students too,” said Indira Rajan, General Secretary of Kerala CBSE Schools Management Association.