No takers for Class 11 in 300 colleges in Maharashtra, but govt spends crores on salaries of their staff | Mumbai News

Nagpur: Around 300 junior colleges in the state did not see a single enrolment from students in the first round of admissions. Yet, money for salaries running into crores streams into these colleges from govt coffers.This has left many wondering whether another scam has been unearthed where students would have been registered earlier “on paper” so that the jobs of the staff remain intact. The data on colleges failing to secure even a single admission for Class 11 — as per information provided by the govt in the legislative council on Wednesday — has come to the fore after FYJC admissions were shifted to online mode this year for the first time.Minister of state for school education Pankaj Bhoyar mentioned the statistic in a single line formation, as part of a larger discussion on online common admission process (CAP), which kicked in this year. However, none of these institutes were identified by the govt. MLC Abhijeet Wanjarri told TOI that these statistics need to be probed. Wanjarri said: “The minister said on record that these institutes are getting govt grants, either partial or full. How is that 300 colleges collectively failed to secure even a single admission? This is something which needs to be investigated and we want the govt to get to the bottom of this.” Against the backdrop of the teacher hiring scam which rocked the state, such information is being taken seriously.An education department official said that there are no admissions in these 300 colleges due to two reasons mainly — on the basis of merit and students’ preference there was no allotment in these colleges in the first round, and, secondly, students did not opt for these colleges. He added that these colleges could be aided, partially aided or completely unaided colleges.An education official from Nagpur said this is a scam. “Going by what was said in the council, there are definite illegalities. It’s likely that till last year, these colleges were faking registrations to show enrolment and keep their posts intact, since both are connected. Else by any stretch of imagination, it is impossible for 300 govt-aided colleges to stop getting students in the same year,” said the official.Another education official told TOI that a random check of some junior colleges in a district from western Maharashtra, revealed a mismatch in the number of students taking admission and those appearing for board exams. “While it’s possible that some students drop out, but when such statistics are high for certain colleges, it is questionable,” the education official added. Sources say once the CAP is over, officials will study the data to detect discrepancies.