Life will be a lot easier for school-leaving students across West Bengal starting this year with the State finally set to launch a centralised online admission system that will not only be time-saving but also transparent.
Colleges, at the moment, are busy sending data to the Directorate of Public Instruction, which in February told the colleges about starting the single-window admission process from the coming academic year. The system was to be introduced in 2023 year but it was thought of quite late in the day, when the admissions were about to begin and when institutions were more caught up adopting the National Education Policy, as a result of which the idea was dropped at the last minute.
But this year, the State Government started early. Late in February, the colleges were informed by the directorate that the centralised system was going to be adopted starting this year — the admissions will begin early July — and asked them to submit information such as their intake capacity, subject combinations, and fee structure.
Colleges quickly convened admission committee meetings and by Wednesday, more of them had submitted the required details. Now will begin their interactions with the IT company developing the portal.
Both parents and teachers have welcomed the decision because it will not only save students from the tedious process of applying simultaneously in various colleges — and not knowing for a long time where they will eventually find a seat — but also save the institutions from the pressure of unions that call the shots during admissions.
It was in late April that the State government announced the use of a centralised web-based online admission system for admission at undergraduate level in all colleges/universities run by it. The system was to be initiated last year itself, but the idea was dropped allegedly under pressure from various unions that usually have a say in the admission process. In fact, these unions are said to be behind the single-window system not being adopted so far.
“The system will not only bring about transparency, it will also help students apply for colleges across the State,” Tilak Chatterjee, Principal of Bankim Sardar College, said.
Last year, when this system was about to be introduced, Shyamalendu Chatterjee, general secretary of All Bengal Principals’ Council, had explained to The Hindu how it would benefit students and colleges alike.
“There are about 458 colleges in Bengal. Let’s say a student applies for B.Com (Honours) in five colleges: Umesh Chandra College, City College, Goenka College, Jaipuria College and Chittaranjan College. The student’s name figures on the first list of Chittaranjan College and he takes admission there,” Dr. Chatterjee had given as an example.
“After 15 days, his name comes on the list of Umesh Chandra College. The boy cancels his admission in Chittaranjan College and takes admission in Umesh Chandra College. Finally, after one month, his name shows on the merit list of Jaipuria College. The student cancels his admission in Umesh Chandra College and takes admission in Jaipuria. This process goes on,” he said.
“Finally, 70% of the students in the first list of Chittaranjan College cancel their admission and eventually 50% of the seats remain vacant. So, this causes an acute crisis in the lower-ranking colleges. Centralised admission will not only take care of this problem but also minimise corruption. Many students are deprived from getting admission in their preferred college even though they have the requisite marks,” he had explained.
