Sportspersons await certificates for admission to Class XI under quota

Local sportspersons who appeared for the last gradation interview conducted by the UT Sports Department will have to wait till the last hour before applying for the Class XI admissions under sports quota at local government schools.

The UT Education Department has luckily extended the last date for filling registration forms for Class XI admissions in government senior secondary schools of Chandigarh for the session 2025-26 till June 9 (10am). Earlier, the last date of filing for the admissions was June 6 and the local players (seeking admissions under sports quota in government schools) claimed to have not received their gradation certificates issued by the Sports Department despite waiting for over 15 days.

Having no other option, the players were planning to apply under general category or wait for the second counselling. However, with extension of last day till Monday, the applicant players are now relying on receiving the certificates well in time to apply under sports quota.

Sports Department officials maintained that the certificates would be uploaded by Monday, so that players could apply for the admissions further. “There were nearly 146 applicants for getting gradation certificates. The documents should have been uploaded by now, however it will be surely uploaded by Monday (June 9),” claimed an official of the department.

Meanwhile, the applicant players requested the Education Department to extend the timing from 10 am till 2 pm. “Since the (Sports) Department will upload the certificates on Monday, the Education Department should extend the time till 2 pm. Local departments usually open by 9 am, and even if we get the gradation certificates right away, we need time to further upload the documents. And, if the Sports Department delays the allotment process... we are again in trouble,” said a local player.

A coach further added, “Both departments function under one umbrella of the UT Administration, but still lack coordination. In this case, the players are yet to receive the certificates despite the fast approaching deadline, and in some cases...the Sports Department didn’t even take a single day to call the applicants for applying for gradation certificate,” added the coach.

As many as 2 per cent seats are reserved for sportspersons in local government schools covered under this admission process, apart from over and above 68 seats at five other schools and special seats for state-run sports academies. Under all these seats, gradation certificate is a must to claim the benefits of allocation under the sports quota.