Pending exams, assessment work may delay FYJC admission

Admission to the Firsr Year Junior College (FYJC), a major process at the start of every academic year, is likely to be deferred due to lockdown, pending exams and backlog of assessment. On one hand, the state board is striving to complete Class 10 paper assessment from home and declare SSC results on time while on the other hand, private boards are yet to conduct pending exams that were interrupted midway due to the Covid-19 curfew.

Authorities of junior colleges claim students should be given additional time to apply for FYJC admissions. A principal of a junior college at Vile Parle, said, "The FYJC admission process is conducted by the state and students should be given more time if results are delayed. The state should consider that students might face issues in arranging documents and experience travel restrictions due to lockdown." While, a manager of a Dadar college said, "FYJC admissions are prolonged every year so students need not panic as the process might get extended considering the pandemic situation."

Currently, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has directed all teachers to complete assessment of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Class 10 answer papers from home.

Sandeep Sangve, Secretary of MSBSHSE, Mumbai division, said, "We have infor med all teachers to complete assessment on priority basis during lockdown. We have made provisions to provide answer papers to examiners in order to avoid any delay in declaration of SSC results." According to the Bombay High Court (HC) order, the state should announce SSC and HSC results by June 10.

Due to lockdown constraints, procedures such as calculating average marks, grading, adding scores of inter nals and practicals, and completing paper assessment is time consuming, claimed Hemali Pandit, a teacher. Pandit said, "We do not have access to all school systems, inter nal test papers and grades. It takes time to correct papers, calculate the total score and add the final marks. We are trying our best to complete assessment on priority."

While Yash Shar ma, another teacher and examiner said, "We are commuting to schools to collect answer papers so that we can bring them home for paper correction. The process is taking more time than usual as there are large number of students who appear for SSC board exams every year." In addition, authorities of private boards Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the India School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) are yet to conduct pending Class 10 exams.