Fewer colleges for students in Maharashtra

With a higher number of students passing out of high school this year, it is likely the problem of college admission will loom large. The overall pass percentage of 66.41 last year in Maharashtra has gone up to 72.44 per cent, with that in Mumbai going up from 78.43 to 85.57 per cent this year.

This means that 128,246 students will seek admission into colleges that are already overfilled and have limited infrastructure. Girls have once again outshone the boys with a pass percentage of 78.47 as compared to 68.46 for the boys.

The state topper Ram Prabhakar Jambhale from Shri Shivaji Science Junior College in Nagpur scored 97 per cent, while the city's first rank holder was Satyendra Suyash from Ruia College, Matunga, scoring 95.67 per cent, both in the science stream.

Among the city's girl toppers were Nandini Suhas Dikshit from Ruia College who scored 95.33 per cent and stood second, while Maria Fernandes from Xavier's College, Dhobi Talao, topped the Arts stream with 84.33 per cent. Farzana Behram Wadia from Poddar with 89.83 per cent is a topper in the commerce category.

Helplines were set up to advise students by a team of doctors and social workers in Mumbai yesterday. The 12-year-old Yashwant-rao Chavan Open University established by the Government of Maharashtra has also helped. Those who fail or have not gained adequate marks can join after doing a preparatory course, said spokesman, Srinivas Belsaray.

Recently, Centralised Entrance Tests for medical admissions started in the state. Even here, after the merit list is published, there are underhand dealings.

According to Belsaray, "at least Rs 2.5 million is paid for a medical seat, while engineering admissions, for which there is no centralised test, costs around Rs 800,000-Rs 900,000. People often come and complain to us when they don't get admission, but withdraw their complaint when their children get admission."

He claimed that even ordinary colleges for arts, science and commerce often take a cut on admissions. "If only an NRI student came with a complaint on the engineering seat quota, which is 15 per cent now, we could nail the college authorities properly. But so far no one has come forward," he said.