Maharashtra: Std XII exams cancelled; focus shifts to degree admissions

Students wait outside Wilson College opposite Girgaon Chowpatty. File pic

Confusion over marks and exams seems to be a never-ending one, and this time questions have been raised on how the admission process for degree courses would be done. As the CBSE, ICSE and state boards have cancelled the Std XII exams, the question now is how would students take admission for degree courses, as until now it was based on the Std XII results.

While students can sit for entrance exams for admission to professional courses such as engineering, medicine, law, architecture, nursing among all, the same for traditional degree courses BA, B.Com and B.Sc is completely dependent on the Std XII exam results.

It was inevitable

Anushree Kamat, a parent from Vile Parle, said, "The decision of cancelling the exams was inevitable considering the situation. But we need to know what happens to the degree admissions now. Until there is some clarity on it, the relief is not really complete."

Kunal Vohra, a student, said, "The Std XII results are very important for further admissions. We are anxious to know how the results will be calculated." Adding to this, another student Chinmay Punde said, "If the formula is again going to be based on internal assessment of students, then the situation is equally problematic as in the case of Std X results because the digital divide has not given a fair chance to all." Commenting on the decision, Parveen Shaikh, principal, The Somaiya School, said, "This news was expected. All the stakeholders were waiting for the official announcement. Since the stakes are higher in case of the Std XII exams, the question will be how the marks will be calculated and how students will be guided to apply for professional courses. Clear guidelines at the earliest will be helpful and reduce anxiety among students and parents."

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Adding to this, Dr. Madhu Singh, principal of Billabong International School, Malad, said, "It would have been a very challenging situation if the exam was conducted. The decision is in the larger interest of the well-being of students and it will also prevent schools from turning into hotspots. We look forward to the government directives on college admissions and how these assessments will be done for competitive exams. Once we have these details, we can accordingly sensitise and guide our parents and students on the next steps."

Another college principal said, "There has to be a fair-play for admissions. If there is going to be a huge divide in the way each board evaluates Std XII students, then for regular degree admissions too there might be a need for a Common Entrance Test." "Cancelling the exam is not an answer actually. They had an entire year to work on an alternative evaluation pattern, considering the pandemic. But now we hope that students don't have to wait for another month to know how the HSC results will be declared," said Siddharth Ingle, president of Maharashtra Students Union, adding that it was high time all education ministries - school, higher and technical and medical work in tandem to avoid any confusion.

Fair admission process

Even as most believe that cancellation of the exam was inevitable, educationists are of the opinion that a fair admission process should be conducted for degree admissions.

Dr. T A Shivare, chairman of Association of Non-Government Colleges, said, "Traditional degree courses are less likely to have any problem as mostly those are based on in-house processes. For B.A, B.Com. and B.Sc. degree colleges have their own Std XII students from junior colleges. But it is the self-financed courses for which admissions should be fair. Universities are considering the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to these courses."

He further said, "Each university should have its own CET as these courses are very different from each other. Colleges affiliated to Mumbai University have BMM but those affiliated to Pune University do not." A university official said, "Holding CET for admissions to degree courses is under consideration."

Vasant Kalpande, senior educationist and former chairperson of the Maharashtra State Board, said, "Barring few popular colleges in urban areas, there is no cut throat competition for seats in degree courses, as most admissions to professional courses are based on CET and traditional courses already have their own students. It will be important to see how the evaluation for HSC results is done."