Jr college admissions: Maharashtra govt in the dock again

Jr college admissions: Maharashtra govt in the dock again

Mumbai: As junior college admissions draw near, the state government finds itself at the doors of the judiciary again. This time around, twenty-one parents of students from the ICSE board have challenged the state’s Best of Five policy, which allows colleges to take into account only the best five subjects for state board students, but calculate scores of ICSE students based on all seven subjects.
“It is ridiculous to have separate rules for ICSE and state board students. The government should not be surprised that it has
been challenged again, as this is not a well-thought out policy,” said Seema Buch, principal of Gundecha Education Academy (GEA), Kandivli.
“The state government has been meting out step-motherly treatment to students from other boards. Every year, they come up with policies that favour state board students. They don’t seem to have learned anything from their past experiences,” said Carl Laurie, principal of Chirst Church School, Byculla, a member of the Association of ICSE Schools of Mumbai (AISM), which had participated in the protest against the 90:10 policy last year. The court had shot it down.
Xavier Louis, a father of an ICSE student, who had moved court against the state’s percentile system in 2008, and won, said, “I am glad that parents have approached the court again. The state did not even take any efforts to let parents know about the new resolution. The admission season becomes more chaotic thanks to these policies, which do not allow a level playing field for students from across the board.”
The parent-teacher organisations are protesting the move by parents of ICSE students. “They should not have raised this issue after the results were declared, when the decision was known to them in advance. The government issued the resolution on February 25, and had even sought public opinion,” said Jayant Jain, president, Forum for Fairness in Education. He added that the forum will intervene to support the government.
Arundhati Chavan, chairperson, PTA United Forum, also supported the government stand. “How is the state government wrong in issuing the policy which has given relief to students?
Even the CBSE students are benefiting from it. The ICSE board has to correct itself, instead of pointing fingers at the state government,” she said.

Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_jr-college-admissions-maharashtra-govt-in-the-dock-again_1393296