Maharashtra: First come, first served system for 10,000 students

Students will be able to apply to five colleges with seats at one time under the FCFS (first come, first served) system. Representation pic

After more than 10,000 First Year Junior College (FYJC) candidates were left without seats after five rounds of admissions, the state government has given special permission to have a special first come, first served (FCFS) round of admissions in Mumbai division and other districts of the state. The FYJC admissions have been the most delayed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and confusion over the Maratha reservation.

With 10,533 students left without seats after the last admission round, instead of going for another centralised admission process, which would have likely left students without seats in the end, the state government plans to accommodate everyone in the FCFS round. The dates for the online round will be declared once the fifth round of admissions is over.

"Continuing centralised rounds would have taken much longer. That would not do when the academic year has already been delayed to such a great extent. Hence special permission has been given for an FCFS round. We will get the approval on Friday," said Dattatray Jagtap, director of secondary education.

The FCFS process will show candidates available seats across colleges, which they would have to apply for. Admissions will be done immediately based on merit. The 10,533 students are only from Mumbai division. Other districts of the state such as Pune, Nagpur, Nasik among others, too, have many FYJC students without seats. There are an estimated 90,000 students without seats across districts that hold centralised online admissions for FYJC.