Schools: past perfect,future tense

Even as the parents of the CBSE and other board students are crying foul over the formula,it is the other face of reality that has come to the fore. The question now before the education department will be as to how to accommodate the extra 25,000 SSC students in the district.

As many as 98,460 students,including repeaters,have passed the SSC exam in the district this year. If around 3,000 who have passed the exam in October 2008 are added to it,the figure goes over a lakh. According to V M Gaikwad,assistant director of Education Department,Pune division,84,560 seats of science,arts and commerce are available in the district. Therefore,in any way,the seats are less than the total number of students passed. And if the 90:10 formula is implemented,the situation will turn worse.

When contacted,deputy director of Education Department G K Mhamane said the department would take stock of the total number of seats. “The government has recently sanctioned some junior colleges in the district. It will help increase some seats. Moreover,all SSC pass students don’t go for Class XI. Some will go for diploma courses. And if need arises even after that,we will ask the government to allot more seats.”

Mhamane said since the number of non-SSC students in the district is only three per cent,the vacant seven per cent seats can be given to the SSC students.

The increase in the number of SSC students this year can be attributed to good results. The pass percentage of the district is 81.31. Moreover,the number of students who appeared for the exam was also more compared to the last year.

Meanwhile,in Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad,the SSC students will just make it to Class XI. There are 57,460 Class XI seats in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and if the 90:10 formula is implemented,the SSC students will have 51,714 seats.

As many as 42,329 fresh SSC students have passed in Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad this year. If around 5,000 repeaters who passed in March 2009 and October 2008 are added to it,the number goes up to 47,500. Around 2,500 students from outside Pune opt for city colleges every year. This means there will be around 50,000 SSC students for 51,714 seats.

On the other hand,around 3,000 CBSE and other board students have passed in Pune this year but they will have 5,746 seats for grabs.