Daijiworld Media Network- Mumbai
Mumbai, Sep 2: Science continues to be the most sought-after stream for first-year junior college (FYJC) aspirants in Mumbai and across Maharashtra, with only around 25% of seats vacant after seven rounds of admissions. In contrast, nearly 50% of seats remain vacant in arts and commerce streams.
Regional trends show that in Mumbai, Pune, and Kolhapur, arts has more vacancies than commerce, while in Nashik, Amravati, Nagpur, Latur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, commerce sees a higher percentage of unfilled seats. Among the state’s eight administrative regions, Nashik has the lowest vacancy rate, followed by Kolhapur and Amravati. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur have the highest vacancies, nearing 50%.
In the commerce stream, despite having the highest number of seats (2.3 lac), Mumbai reports the lowest vacancies in the state, indicating strong demand. Across Mumbai’s FYJC colleges, more than one in three seats remain vacant after seven rounds.
With over 21 lac FYJC seats available statewide and only around 14.7 lac aspirants, a significant number of seats are expected to remain unfilled. This year, for the first time, FYJC admissions were conducted centrally online by the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, whereas earlier e-admissions were limited to select municipal areas and conducted regionally.
Experts attribute rising vacancies to the increase in unaided seats and students’ strong focus on engineering and medical courses. Karuna Gokarn, principal of St Xavier’s College, noted that science cutoffs this year are almost at par with arts, unlike previous years when they were marginally lower.
According to Mahesh Palkar, director of secondary and higher secondary education, of the 14.7 lac applicants, 13.44 lac filled their preferences and 13.11 lac secured admissions. He added that the remaining students may have opted for polytechnic or ITI courses. Palkar said, “Science is the most popular stream in the state. In Mumbai, commerce sees strong demand, followed by science, while in Pune, over 50% of admissions are in science.”
Krutika Desai, principal of Mithibai College, pointed out that students are largely influenced by engineering and medical aspirations during school. “If they fail to secure medical or engineering seats, they explore other options after class 12, which reduces demand for science. Even in science, research opportunities are rarely considered, and in arts, students mainly focus on psychology or economics,” she said.
Palkar added that if seats remain vacant after the seventh round, the authorities may conduct an additional round of admissions to fill remaining spots.