Mumbai: Colleges goof up, HSC students in trouble after they opt for 'unauthorised' subject

In a stringent move, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education's (MSBSHSE) Mumbai divisional board has withheld the results of nearly 5,000 HSC students as the 33 colleges they studied at were found to have provided them with the option of Information Technology (IT), a subject they were not authorised to. The board has initiated an inquiry against these colleges for violation and issued notices. The board is also mulling cancelling affiliation of these colleges, officials said.

These colleges did not have the permission to provide IT as a subject and yet the students applied for it for the HSC board exam. According to rules, colleges are supposed to get the students to fill in codes of subjects that the colleges are authorised to teach. However, in this case, the students filled in the code for IT even as their colleges were not authorised for the same. This has now led to a bigger problem as the board has withheld the results of nearly 5,000 students, who cannot start their admission process.

"We allowed the students to appear for the exam according to the exam forms submitted by their colleges. Later while preparing mark sheets, we realised that these colleges were not supposed to have IT as they had no permission. We have initiated an inquiry and slapped notices to these 33 junior colleges. The board is likely to cancel the affiliation of these colleges following the inquiry. We will not allow such malfunctioning. Stringent action will be taken against these colleges soon," said Nitin Upasani, chairman, Mumbai divisional board of MSBSHSE.

K J Somaiya Jr College of Arts and Commerce is one of the Mumbai colleges that has come under the scanner. Pic/K J Somaiya Jr College of Arts and Commerce

The 33 colleges include 14 from Mumbai while the remaining are from Vasai, Virar, Nalasopara, Panvel, Raigad etc. Among the colleges from Mumbai are big names like K J Somaiya Jr College of Arts and Commerce; SK Somaiya Vidyamandir; Lords Universal Junior College, Goregaon; SVP Junior College, Borivli; Anjuman Islam Jr College; MKS Jr College at Vile Parle among others.

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Upasani added, "We are not against the students. However, until these colleges pay a penalty decided after the inquiry, we will not release the results. Furthermore, we have even put up a condition that the college management will have to take action against the college principals. Unless we do this, such instances will not stop. We have to draw a clear line and make this an example for others."

He said that despite the board trying to reach out to these colleges several times, there has been no response. "We have written to these colleges and even called them several times, but they just don't respond. They think when it comes to students we will not do anything. They are wrong. We will not let this happen and take stringent action," he said. mid-day also tried to reach out to the principals of some of the colleges including K J Somaiya Jr College of Arts and Commerce but there was no response.

This was the first offline board exam since the pandemic began in March 2020. This year out of a total of 14,39,731 students who appeared for the HSC exam from across the state, 13,56,604 passed. The pass percentage of boys stood at 95.35 per cent and that for girls was 93.29 per cent. The pass percentage for science stream was 99.45 per cent, 99.83 per cent for arts stream, and 99.91 per cent for commerce stream. In the Mumbai division, 3,23,563 of the total 2,94,164 students who appeared for the exam passed. The pass percentage for girl was 90.04 per cent while 91.88 per cent of all boys who appeared for the exam passed.

The Mumbai division of the state board comprises six sub-divisions based on regions like Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Mumbai city and suburbs, etc. The Mumbai region recorded the lowest pass percentage as compared to other regions. The Raigad region recorded the highest pass percentage at 93.11 per cent, followed by Thane at 92.67 per cent, Palghar at 91.77 per cent and Mumbai Suburbs 2 (Kurla to Mulund) at 91 per cent. Mumbai Suburbs 1 (Bandra to Dahisar) and Greater Mumbai (South Mumbai) recorded the lowest pass percentages at 89.33 per cent and 86.60 per cent, respectively.

14
No of colleges that offered the course in Mumbai

33
No of colleges that have come under scanner