SHILLONG: With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of backing out, students, who had plans of travelling outside the state for further studies, are now in a fix as restrictions are the most stringent on movement of people.
Also with HSSLC students waiting for their results, slated to be announced on July 9, the citizens may have to settle with whatever the state has on the plate at present.
A city college, St Anthony’s College, taking cognisance of the matter, has decided to increase the quota of seats for local candidates.
While the usual quota of seats was in the ratio of 80:20 for local candidates and candidates from outside the state, now it has been changed to 95:5.
The management hopes that this will enable more local candidates to get admission into the college for the next academic session.
Meanwhile, the college has also begun early preparation for fresh admissions with the “need to have a foolproof system that will ensure the safety of the all”.
Earlier, the state government had hinted at making mandatory online forms for admissions to degree courses.
The college has also created an online portal that will help students obtain and submit their forms online as well as scanned images of their documents.
On the admission criteria and procedures, the committee recommended scrapping all entrance tests, interviews and auditions, which were an integral part of the process for admission to some departments.
It also recommended the extension of the fees payment period from 24 hours to 48 hours to enable students to complete the process more conveniently.
The institution’s core committee, which was constituted to work on a proper standard operating procedure (SOP) for admission amid the pandemic, suggested appealing to the Controller of Examinations, MBoSE, to declare the Class XII results in a staggered manner to reduce the numbers of applicants rushing to colleges for admission on the same day, a statement issued here, said.
The Meghalaya College Principals’ Council had written to the MBoSE Controller on this matter recently and the idea has been approved by the concerned authority.
