The Maharashtra government’s decision to extend the Centralised Admission Process (CAP) for first-year junior college (FYJC) admissions to the entire state has been announced. Previously, the system had been implemented only in five urban regions, including Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune-Pimpri Chinchwad, Amravati, Nagpur, and Nashik. Through this expansion, students from all districts are expected to be provided with a uniform and transparent admission process.
Under the revised system, a total of four admission rounds have been planned before the commencement of junior college classes. After these rounds, an open admission phase will be introduced, in which students will be admitted based on merit. The responsibility for issuing necessary guidelines and ensuring compliance has been assigned to the divisional deputy director of education. It has been stated by officials that this initiative has been designed to minimize delays and create a more efficient and structured admission process, particularly benefiting students from rural areas.
Despite the government's intentions, concerns regarding potential misuse of the open admission phase have been raised by education activists. It has been argued that allowing colleges to manage admissions independently after the initial rounds may lead to malpractices, including corruption and donation-based admissions. The CAP system, which had originally been introduced in MMR in 2009-10 and later extended to Pune-Pimpri Chinchwad in 2014-15, had been implemented to ensure fairness and transparency through a centralized online system. With its expansion across the state, apprehensions regarding improper execution have been voiced by activists and educators.
A cautious response has been given by Vaishali Bafna, chairperson of the Pune-based System Corrective Movement (SYSCOM), who has acknowledged the move to open admissions for vacant seats while expressing concerns over its implementation. The risk of corruption and unregulated admissions has been highlighted by her, and a request for government oversight until the last seat is filled has been made. It has also been pointed out that several technical issues in the CAP system have remained unresolved, despite a third-party IT audit conducted in 2016 that had identified multiple inefficiencies.
Additionally, skepticism has been expressed by Mukund Andhalkar, president of the Junior Colleges Teachers Association, regarding the necessity of a fully online admission system for the entire state. The possibility of Class 11 admissions being delayed until September, causing academic losses for students, has been warned against by him. While the education department has defended the decision by emphasizing improvements in efficiency, reduction in paperwork, and elimination of the need for physical visits, doubts regarding the effectiveness of the system have been reiterated by Andhalkar. It has been argued by him that the practice of permitting colleges to manage vacant seats independently contradicts the purpose of a centralized system, as it leads to last-minute rushes among parents seeking admissions in preferred colleges.
While the expansion of CAP has been positioned as a step toward uniformity and accessibility, concerns regarding its execution and potential loopholes have been raised. The effectiveness of the system in ensuring fairness and preventing delays remains to be seen as implementation progresses across the state.