Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the Assembly on Friday that the government would initiate steps to correct the negative aspects of the single-window system for Plus-One admissions.
He said that the decision was in view of the instances reported from various parts in which students who had secured A+ grade in all subjects under the state syllabus were not able to get admission for Plus-One in the the institutions of their choice this year.
While the Opposition was trying to highlight the death of Reshma of Pattambi, who ended her life the other day after she could not secure admission for the Plus-One Computer Science course, Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb countered it by stating that there was no dearth of seats and the process of second allotment would be over only by the end of this month. Twenty per cent hike in seats in the 550 batches run in various institutions for Plus-One has been announced.
‘’The CBSE examination results came out early this year. Naturally, the winners applied for the Plus-One courses immediately. However, winners under the state syllabus caught up in the race. If 14,289 CBSE students had secured Plus-One admissions last year, it is only 11,063 this year,’’ he maintained.
The issue was brought to the attention of the House by K S Saleekha (CPM) by giving notice for an adjournment motion. She charged that the government had created ground for CBSE managements to reap profits, while state syllabus students were left in the lurch. K Suresh Kurup said that this year, students were running from pillar to post for Plus-One admissions and the State government alone was responsible for creating such a situation.
Former Education Minister M A Baby said that the crux of the current issue was that the State Government had failed to implement the directive of Union HR Minister Kapil Sibal that CBSE students, who had opted for annual examinations conducted in their own schools in lieu of examinations conducted by the CBSE Board, should be asked to gain admission for Plus-I in the same school.
The Chief Minister said that it was not due to the influx of CBSE-ICSE students but anomalies in the single-window scheme which has put a spoke on the admission process. “In Palakkad district alone, 2,209 Plus-I seats are lying vacant as of now. Only 711 CBSE-ICSE students have secured admission so far in that district,’’ Chandy said and added that Reshma had only given a choice of three schools when she could have applied in up to 50 schools under the single-window scheme.
‘’The incident is quite unfortunate. The government will ensure that the family of the deceased girl is given adequate financial assistance,’’ he assured. Subsequently, the adjournment motion was not pressed further by the Opposition.
In a letter sent to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan demanded an assurance that from next year, the criteria for Plus-One admission would be marks secured in the public examinations, irrespective of the syllabus under which he or she studied.