THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of resolving the higher secondary seat shortage, the General Education Department is understood to have recommended sanctioning 97 new Plus I batches, mostly in northern districts on a temporary basis. The cabinet is expected to take a final call on the proposal on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, admissions as per the second supplementary allotment will end on Tuesday. According to the department, at least an additional 5,000 seats are needed to address the seat shortage, especially in districts such as Malappuram.
Of the 20,224 students who applied in the second allotment, seats could be ensured only for 4,440 applicants. Of the 15,784 applicants who are awaiting seats, 8,338 are from Malappuram. Last year, 81 additional batches were sanctioned to meet the seat shortage, of which 30 batches were for Malappuram district. Besides, 14 batches in southern districts that did not have sufficient students, were shifted to Malappuram.
These batches were retained this year as well. However, the proposal to sanction 97 additional batches was mooted as the previous year’s arrangements could not address the shortage.