Maharashtra to go for 'Best Five' scheme for Jr college admission

Maharashtra government would go ahead with the implementation of the 'Best Five' scheme as the basis for admission to junior colleges from this year, education minister Balasaheb Thorat has said.
    
The issue had figured in the Legislative Assembly last week with some members expressing doubts whether the scheme would help ease the burden on Class Ten students.

School education minister Balasaheb Thorat said that the decision to implement the 'Best Five' scheme has been taken in the larger interest of  the students appearing for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination.
    
Thorat said 'Best Five' will ensure a level playing field for students from the state SSC Board with CBSE and ICSE students who need to clear only five subjects to go the next class.
    
As per the scheme formulated by the state government, only five of the six subjects where the student has scored the highest marks will be considered for admission to Std XI.
   
"However, we expect the student to pass in all subjects. In case the student fails to clear a paper, she/he can take admission to Std XI through ATKT (Allowed to keep terms) but will need to clear the subject," Thorat added.

The issue of junior college admissions was raised in the legislative assembly by Shiv Sena MLA Subhash Desai and supported by Congress legislator Vilaskaka Patil.

"The government’s past attempt to introduce a new method for admissions to Std XI has failed and it may face a similar fate this time,"  Desai said and wanted to know if the government had an alternate plan.
    
He said when CBSE and ICSE students needed to clear only five subjects, the "best five" scheme for SSC wants the students to pass in all the six subjects. Desai said the ATKT provision will add to the burden of the students.

Vilaskaka Patil felt that the government had not consulted students and parents before arriving at the decision. He also wanted to know the names of experts who suggested the scheme to the minister.
    
Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil had asked the minister to take into account the concerns of the members and ensure that students are not put to any hardships. He had also asked if the government would do a re-think on the scheme.
    
Thorat expressed confidence that the new scheme will not be challenged in court because the  government had sought suggestions and objections from the public.

"It was widely publicised and we obtained people’s opinion online. About 76 per cent of the respondents were in favour of
the proposal," the minister said.

Thorat said students who have appeared for SSC exams this year will be admitted to junior colleges based on aggregate of five top scored subjects, provided they pass in all subjects.
    
"The existing rules for passing each subject are very much applicable despite the 'Best Five' scheme. Total percentage of marks will be calculated based on five top scores instead of percentage of six mandatory subjects," he said.
     
'Best Five' formula for admissions to junior colleges will bring students of SSC board on par with students of CBSE and ICSE as the latter also follow the same procedure, he said.
      
The proposal was mooted by Maharashtra State Secondary and High secondary education board. It consulted experts in the field and statutory committees scrutinised the proposal before sending it to the government for clearance, the minister said.

He said the students appeared for the SSC examination this year after the decision was made and the online admission process has been based on it.
 
State education department’s earlier schemes to bring normalisation of marks between various boards by percentile formula had been scrapped by the Bombay high court.