Class XI Admissions: Administration mulls 85% reservation for Chandigarh govt school students

Tribune News Service

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, March 31

The UT Education Department is mulling a new admission policy for Class XI that proposes to reserve 85% of the seats in government senior secondary schools for students who have cleared Class X from government schools in Chandigarh.

Infra upgrade key

There is increasing interest in admissions to UT govt schools due to infra upgrade. We are working on a policy to prioritise admission for all govt school Class X passouts. — Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar, Director of School Education

The remaining 15% seats will be reserved for students from private schools in Chandigarh and other states. The admission process will be based on separate merit lists for each quota, and any unfilled seats from the government school quota will be offered to students from other states and boards.

The proposed policy comes in response to the increasing number of students seeking admissions to government senior secondary schools in UT each year.

As admissions to Class XI are based on merit, not all students from government schools of the city make it to the next level, thereby tilting the scales in favour of students from private schools.

To accommodate the Class X passouts from government schools, Class XI seats were initially increased from 12,815 to 13,535 from academic year 2022-23. Despite the increased number of seats, not all students who passed out from government schools could make it to the first two rounds of counselling. To address the issue, seats were further increased to 15,527, which is a 21% increase over the previous year. There are 42 senior secondary government schools in Chandigarh.

As per the current policy, a common merit for all students for government and private schools of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and other states is prepared. Students are admitted based on their percentage, preference, and availability of seats.

Director of School Education Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar says there is increasing interest in admissions to government schools in UT due to investment in infrastructure for upgrade of schools with the state-of-the-art facilities. “The Education Department is working on a policy to prioritise admission for all government school Class X passouts,” he says.

The proposed admission policy aims at giving priority to students from government schools in the UT while still providing opportunities to students from private schools and other states. With increasing interest in government school education, the policy is expected to benefit a larger number of students in the coming years.

Will curb dummy admissions

Most of the private school students take dummy admissions in govt schools to prepare for competitive exams after Class X. This allows them to take private tuitions without having to attend school regularly. Most of these are JEE or NEET aspirants who spend time in coaching institutes. The new policy will bring down the number of dummy admissions.

Aimed at giving priority to own

• As admissions to Class XI are based on merit, not all students from UT govt schools make it to the next level, tilting the scales in favour of private school students
• To accommodate Class X passouts from govt schools, Class XI seats were increased from 12,815 to 15,527 (21% rise) for 2022-23 academic session
• Admissions will be based on separate merit lists for each quota, and unfilled seats from govt school quota will be offered to students from other states/boards
• The proposed policy comes in response to increasing interest among students in seeking admissions to govt senior secondary schools in Chandigarh