BENGALURU: Just a day after the announcement of Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination (SSLC) results, parents and students have started approaching colleges seeking applications for various courses. Interestingly, this year, the demand for commerce courses is more compared to science and arts. Even the cut-off is expected to go up for commerce courses as compared to other streams.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Prof B S Basavarajaiah, principal of ASC Pre-University College at Rajajinagar Industrial Area in Bengaluru said, "Though we offer science, the demand for commerce stream is high. Compared to the previous year, the cut-off for commerce courses is expected to cross 88% this time, which was around 82% last year."
Many candidates feel that they can make a career if they choose commerce and also job opportunities are more in commerce. "I feel engineering has not much scope and studying medicine is a long process, so I have decided to opt for commerce and settle down sooner," said a candidate who is an aspirant for a commerce seat at one of the top colleges in the city.
However, principals of some of the colleges feel that the cut-off for commerce may cross 90% this time. "Anyway, we will get to know about the cut-off only after receiving all the applications. But when we look at this year's SSLC results, students with Grade A marks are more and that shows the cut-off will go up this year at least by 5%, compared to last year," explained the principal of one of the PU colleges located at Basaveshwara Nagar.
A look at the trend at city-based PU colleges which offer all three science, commerce and arts combinations, shows the demand is more for commerce. The dean of Mount Carmel PU college said, "There is high demand for commerce course this year."
In the SSLC results which were announced on Monday, over 1,07,045 candidates secured Grade A and these are the students who are going to decide the cut-off. "As per our knowledge, there are lakhs of students who have secured equal marks and higher grades. So, the cut-off will be decided only after receiving filled application forms," said a principal of another private PU college in the city.
Interestingly, some colleges have different cut-offs for boys and girls. In a few colleges, the cut-off for girls is higher. When asked, the college authorities said this is because the pass percentage of girls is higher than that of boys.
Done with admissions in many colleges
Many colleges have already completed the admission process even before the announcement of SSLC results. When parents and students approached on Tuesday to seek applications, they were shocked to hear that admissions are over. These are mostly integrated colleges which offer coaching for CET/NEET and JEE along with PUC. They have completed admissions based on the marks secured in preparatory exams.
Rs 500 for application fee?
Though there is clear instruction from PUE department for colleges to not charge more for application fee, many colleges were found charging up to `500 as application fee along with brochures. The admission guidelines released by the department clearly mentions that even the application should be downloaded from the department website and in case any candidate download the application on their own, the colleges have to accept it by affixing the college seal on it. For the fee charged for these applications, colleges have to provide separate receipt.
Highlights
- Colleges must publish details of seats and courses on their notice board and website on the day of the announcement of SSLC results
- Stream-wise roster must be published
- Details of teaching and non-teaching staff should be published on website and notice board
- Last day to issue application forms is the fourth working day after the announcement of SSLC results