THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Last year, the prospectus was available on time, making it easy for parents and students to correctly submit the highly-complicated course/ school options. This year, by delaying the prospectus, all the government did was to help Akshaya centres and cyber cafes which fleece students for helping them in selecting the right options,” said a Higher Secondary School teacher.
“Even though the prospectus was available online, only a few of the over five lakh applicants could afford to take voluminous printouts or access it online at their convenience,” the teacher said, adding that in some cases, computer centres charged around Rs 10 per option.
“Many students submitted just five or six options owing to the cost factor involved.
The fact is that, for a student with low marks to get a seat, he or she should submit at least 60 options,” the teacher said.
However, C-apt maintained that the process of distributing the prospectus will commence on Monday. “We received the order only in the last week of May. We have fast-tracked the process and the prospectus will reach the schools by Monday,” C-apt Managing Director Sajith Vijayaraghavan said.
Higher Secondary Directorate’s helpdesks, called ‘Focus Points’, in select schools helped students in selecting the right school/ course combination to some extent. However, the number of applicants was too high for the helpdesks to handle, leading many to rely on private computer centres. “If there are errors in the online applications, the students will be given chance
for correcting it during the verification process that is currently underway in schools. There is no need for any concern,” Higher Secondary Directorate Joint Director Sajudeen P A said.
Meanwhile, nearly two months after the declaration of results, the original certificates and mark lists of Higher Secondary exams are yet to reach many schools. In some schools, even the distribution of SSLC certificates had still not been completed.
“The process of distribution of Higher Secondary certificates is underway and it will reach the schools by June 9,” Sajudeen said.