No takers for FYJC seats: Over 50,000 vacant, 3,000 students left in spl round of counselling

After four merit and one special round of counselling, 54,870 seats are still vacant in city colleges and just over 3,000 students have not been allotted a seat in the First Year Junior College (FYJC) admission process. Now, the state education department will hold more special rounds to find seats for those who are still waiting. This is the first time that such a huge number of seats are still on offer.

Over 71,123 seats were still vacant after the first special merit round results that were declared on Wednesday. And out of the 19,336 applicants for this round 16,253 students were allotted seats.

The special round was meant for those 20,000 students who were either not been allotted a seat in the previous merit rounds or had not get themselves admitted in colleges. This included around 2,000 students in the waiting list, around 8,000 students who did not secure admissions after the end of the four merit rounds and 10,000 students who did not secure admissions despite being allotted a seat in the first college of their preference.

The delay in the admission process has been criticised by Mumbai’s academic circle. “The students and the teachers will suffer as the admission process is delaying the start of the academic semester. The delay was uncalled for --- in other years, the process would be completed within a fortnight,” said Suhas Pednekar, principal of Ruia College.

For those still waiting for a berth in a college, it is indeed a frustrating experience. “Most colleges have started their academic year, we do not want to miss any lectures and we sincerely hope that we get admission as soon as possible.”

The students who have been allotted a seat in the first special round will have to submit documents and get admitted on August 18 and 19. An education department officer said, “Once the admission process is over, we will get a cleared picture relating to vacant seats.”