Mumbai
Sunday Times, 20th July 2008
Mumbai:
“I have scored 84.61% but I am without a seat. Please
help me,’’ Mazgaon resident Jagruti Gala pleaded
with officials on Saturday. She was one of the scores of
desperate students and parents who thronged the education
department deputy director’s office at Charni Road.
Students, who queued up outside the office, wanted an assurance
from deputy director (school education) Sheila Tiwari that
they would eventually get a seat at a junior college.
So many students and their parents waited outside the office
that the police had to be called in to ensure that the law
and order situation remain under control.
Ajinkya Akolkar, who scored 86%, said he had applied to
Ruia College, D G Ruparel College and to VJTI for a diploma
course in engineering but had failed to get admission anywhere.
“I have not got through anywhere despite the fact
that I have studied really hard for my Std-X examination,’’
Akolkar said.
Shefali Merchant and Dhara Madhwani, both of whom have scored
71.69%, have failed to gain admission to any college. Merchant
claimed that her name was put on the fifth merit list at
Lala Lajpat Rai College but she was denied admission. “When
I went to pay my fee, I was asked to come the next day.
When I went back to the college, I was told that the admission
procedure was over. Now they are demanding a donation of
Rs 50,000,’’ she said.
A furious Madhwani added that all the hard work she had
put in had come to naught.
According to Tiwari, it was nothing unusual that parents
and students were so worried about admission. “I have
advised them to go to our guidance centres, which are going
to open on Monday,’’ she said. “These
students will be allotted a seat in the second round.’’
Those candidates, who will not be accommodated even after
the second round of admissions, will be taken up by this
office on July 29. “We have received letters from
students who have scored 36% as well as from those with
86%’’ an officer said.
Paranoid parents and their wards waited in queue on Saturday
as Tiwari heard every case. Some returned home satisfied,
confident that they would not have to drop out of the education
system, but there were others who were annoyed as they felt
that they had been short-changed by the government, which
introduced the percentile system at the last minute.
THE
NEXT ROUND BEGINS
SECOND
ROUND TIME-TABLE
Sale
of application forms and submission of forms at colleges:
July 21-July 23 (10 am to 5.30 pm)
Display of merit list at colleges: July 24 (1 pm)
Admission process (including payment of fees and submission
of original documents): July 24 (after 1 pm), July 25, July
26 (10 am to 5.30 pm)
Details of students admitted and vacant seats (to be submitted
by colleges to the deputy director’s office): July
28 (by 4 pm)
GUIDANCE
CENTRES FOUR ROUND II
The
guidance centres, which will open on Monday morning, will
provide a break-up of vacant seats in city colleges. Officials
there will advise candidates on the college they should
apply to, based on their marks and seat availability.
Mumbai (north): Ramji Aasar High School, M G Road, Ghatkopar
(E) Mumbai (south): Gartan High School, Grant Road (E) Mumbai
(west): Parle Tilak High School, Hanuman Road, Vile Parle
(E) Thane: New English High School and Junior College, Ghantali,
Ram Maruti Road, Thane (E); New High School and Junior College,
Joshibaug, Kalyan (E); South Indian High School and Junior
College, Dombivli (E); New Era High School and Junior College,
Ulhasnagar; Modern College, better known as Karmaveer Bhaurao
Patil College, Juinagar, Vashi, Navi Mumbai; Vartak Vidyalaya,
Navghar, Vasai; Abhinav School and Junior College, Bhayandar
(W), Goddeo; Rice High School and Junior College, Bhiwandi;
Mani Dondkar School, Palghar (E), Thane
Raigad: V K High School and Junior College, Panvel
