Students panic as higher secondaries in major towns close admissions
TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: Panic has set in among students and parents as many higher secondaries, especially those located in major towns of the State began closing the admissions to Class XI, even as education authorities have assured that directions will be issued to schools not to close admissions.
Most higher secondaries located in major towns have declared that admissions are closed especially with limited number of seats, leaving students to either hunt for higher secondaries further away from towns or settle for a stream of education that wasn’t exactly their priority.
Speaking to Herald, Deputy Director of Education, Anil Powar said that the department would shortly issue directions to higher secondary schools to ensure that all students are admitted.
“According to the statement of the Chief Minister, we will ensure that all students are admitted. Directions will be issued in the next few days,” Powar said.
However, Elvis Gonsalves, Principal of St Xavier’s Higher Secondary School, said the problem is compounded by the fact that students want to come to the cities to study. “I was speaking to some of my principal colleagues and they told me that there are seats available in higher secondaries little further away from the towns. Like for example in Siolim and in Candolim. All students flood the cities. So they cannot be accommodated,” Gonsalves told Herald.
“They should go to the higher secondaries in the villages, which they don’t want to do,” he added.
Gonsalves said that they in St Xavier’s had even increased a division, instead of the normal four divisions for Science, they have created five. Also, instead of the normal 50-55 students they used to accommodate in each class, this year they have accommodated up to 65.
At St Xavier’s they began admissions for the Science stream with a cut-off percentage of 75% and offered admissions on first-come first-serve basis. Yet despite that, students with a higher percentage, but who came late had to be turned away.
Interestingly, all seats in higher secondary schools like St Xavier’s were full on the first day of admissions itself.
Speaking on the issue of the government asking them to accommodate more students, Gonsalves said that they have already done it without government prompting them.
“But if asked to take more students it would not only put a strain on our infrastructure, but would also make classes difficult to manage for the teachers and result in each student getting less than the necessary attention,” the principal added.
