School authorities edgy as few opt for admission in Class XI

“We have found that many of the SSC pass students are opting for diploma courses. The admission process in science stream has been absolutely depressing,as students seem to have made up their mind that getting admission in a science college is difficult. Admission in commerce stream is not very encouraging either,” said Hetal Patel,the president of Vadodara City Principals’ Association.

He said,“After meeting all the principals in the city,we realised that the granted schools in the city have over 30 to 40 per cent seats still vacant in both the streams. With no takers for these seats,we are not able to meet the Board guidelines.”

The admission process has begun for those students who are in SC/ST categories and those general category students who did not get admission at the first instance.

“There has been a low turn out for admission in Class XI and while everyone who has applied will definitely get admission,it is possible that there will still be vacant seats in most of the schools after the completion of the admission process,” said R K Patel,Vadodara District Education Officer.

He said,“The seats in diploma courses have increased from 16,000 to 34,000 and most students are finding diploma courses more attractive and useful.”

GSHSEB guidelines
As per the GSHSEB guidelines,every granted school should have minimum 50 students in Science stream and 80 in Commerce stream. There are over 100 schools with Science stream and 137 with Commerce stream in the city. If seats remain vacant,the District Education Officer will possibly have to alter the guidelines after the admission process completes on June 22. “We might have to bring down the minimum standards,if the seats remain vacant,” said Patel.