Colleges clueless about merit list

FORMULA IN USE SINCE THE LAST FOUR YEARS WAS CONSIDERED UNFAIR BY A SECTION OF STUDENTS AS IT WAS BASED ON PERCENTILE

The website of the University of Rajasthan says that the first merit list for admissions to the undergraduate courses in four constituent colleges will be declared on June 15.

The university, however, has not received any instructions from the state higher education department about declaring the merit list till the filing of this report on Wednesday.

The higher education department set formulae on the basis of which the university declares the different cut-off percentage for the students from different school boards.

The colleges consider the marks of applicants and the category before declaring the merit lists for different courses and there are separate merit lists for students from different boards.

The formula in use since the last four years was considered unfair by a section of students as it was based on percentile.

Students from the Central Board of Secondary Education have a higher cut-off percentage as compared to their counterparts from the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education and feel that they were being given a raw deal.

This year, a committee comprising of professors and department officials was set up to revise the formula. The commit- tee submitted its recommendations to the department last week.

In absence of any communication from the department, the colleges are most likely going to postpone declaring the merit list.

The file on the new formula is yet to be approved by state higher education minister Kiran Maheshwari, who is out of state on an official trip, a higher education department official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The new formula will also be applicable for the 217 colleges in the state. The last date for applying to the colleges is June 17 and the merit list for the colleges will be declared on June 22.