Odisha to increase Plus Two seats considering high pass percentage in matriculation

According to sources, the government has decided to add over 13,000 more seats to the existing 5.9 lakh seats. If needed, more seats will be added, said official sources.

“Our aim is to make sure that no student who has passed matriculation should lose the opportunity to continue his/her studies due to lack of seats,” said secretary of the department Aswathy S. The number of Plus Two seats in Odisha has been increased from 2.42 lakh in 2000-01 to over 5 lakh in 2023-24, she said.

Odisha recorded 96.4 pass percentage in the annual HSC examination conducted by the state Board of Secondary Education (BSE) in 2023 compared to 90.55 pass percentage recorded last year. A total of 5,12,460 students passed the examination.

Online admission to Plus Two classes in higher secondary schools for the 2023-24 academic session began on Monday and over 37,000 students registered with the portal on the first day.

As the transformation of high schools in the state under the 5T initiative remains a key priority of the Naveen Patnaik government, the school and mass education secretary said the department has so far transformed a total of 6,123 high schools across Odisha in three phases.

The transformed schools have been equipped with smart classrooms, e-libraries, modern science laboratories, advanced sports facilities and state-of-the-art campuses. All high schools in the state will be transformed under the 5T high school transformation programme by December 2023, Aswathy said.