The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has underlined the fundamental irregularity in the current practice of certain universities which have initiated the process of under-graduate admissions without awaiting the results of the Class 12 school leaving examinations. It is preposterous to imagine that these institutions of higher learning have proceeded from conclusion to premise, a matrix that flies in the face of advancement of learning. The University Grants Commission, the overarching authority in matters academic, has directed all higher educational institutions to plan their admission schedule in step with the declaration of CBSE results. Accordingly, all universities will receive an advisory from the UGC next week, indeed at the threshold of the admission season.

In a letter to the UGC, the CBSE has stated: “It has come to the notice that some universities, especially in Maharashtra, have started registration in under-graduate courses for the session (2022-23) and their last date is in the first week of July. All the universities may please be directed to fix the last date of their undergraduate admission process keeping in mind the date of result declaration of Class 12 by CBSE”. The Board has also underlined the fact that it required about a month to prepare the results. The speed at which some universities have started the admission process is direly shocking, to say the least. The CBSE advanced its letter to the UGC when Mumbai University started admission to under-graduate programmes in degree colleges without waiting for the results of the Indian School Certificate exam, which is administered by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, and the CBSE’s Class 12 results.

While Mumbai University announced its admission season last month, it was expected that the CBSE and ISC results would be declared by the time the second merit list was published. The results are yet to be published and students of schools affiliated to the CBSE and CISCE are quite naturally worried about missing out on seats in their preferred colleges. Mumbai University’s explanation is neither here nor there. It has justified its move saying that CBSE and ISC students comprise a very small percentage of its intake. Therefore, taking a unilateral decision, Mumbai University has always begun its admission process after the announcement of the Maharashtra Board results.

The irregularity ~ at the cost of students ~ is not confined to Maharashtra, however. Science and engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu started their admission process after the declaration of the state Board results on June 20. The state administration in Chennai has directed colleges to keep the “application window” open long enough to allow the CBSE students to apply. The CBSE has claimed that the results are “on track and as of now and as per schedule”. The fact of the matter must be that some universities have gone ahead, rendering career plans haywire.