Marking calamity’s latest fallout: Presidency, Calcutta University subject-seat mismatch – Times of India

Kolkata News
KOLKATA: Presidency University has published its fourth provisional merit list for undergraduate courses but a bulk of seats still remained vacant in certain subjects even after three rounds of admissions, a challenge being also faced by several colleges affiliated to Calcutta University.
Several principals and educationists told TOI one of the major reasons for vacancies in some subjects was the surge in marks in plus-II exams under the special strategy that the boards had to adopt when certain papers in their respective exams had to be suspended owing to the pandemic.

Presidency is still looking to fill seats in all the 16 subjects, with some subjects registering almost 40% vacancies. In its fourth provisional list, it invited candidates to take admissions to 11 seats in geography, 15 in English, 28 in maths, 24 in history and 28 in physics. This, when most seats had been filled at the end of the third round the last three years. “Students from certain boards scored very high in some subjects, while others could not because of the marking system. High-scorers got through some of the premium colleges due to their marks. As a result, some subjects have high number of vacancies, while other subjects have a long waiting list,” said Tapan Kumar Poddar, president of the All Bengal Principals’ Council. An official pointed out high-scorers not genuinely interested in a subject applied for it anyway as there was no fee this time and so, even when their names appeared on the list, they did not take admission. So, those seats had been remaining vacant, he said.
Arabinda Nayak, nodal officer for admissions to undergraduate courses at the university, did not wish to comment but another official in the admissions committee said, “In many subjects, the vacancies are almost 40% of the capacity even after three rounds have already been conducted. It seems it might be difficult to fill all seats by admission deadline of October 30.” The authorities are now brainstorming to find newer ways to fill the seats faster. “One way is to invite only interested candidates to report online who can be offered admissions on the spot,” he said.
Several CU colleges have reopened their portals, inviting fresh applications. Others, such as Lady Brabourne, Loreto, Bethune and Maulana Azad, are still calling up those from the list to take admissions.
The first merit lists at JU has been published and the admissions to UG courses will start from Tuesday. It will end on October 10. Principals of colleges across the city will be watching the response at JU.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/marking-calamitys-latest-fallout-presi-cu-subject-seat-mismatch/articleshow/78501365.cms