The 10-20% marginal seat increase sanctioned by the Cabinet will result in 44,730 more seats for Plus One in the State. This will take the number of Plus One seats to 4,06,476.
Government and aided schools in districts experiencing seat shortage such as Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Kannur have been sanctioned 20% more seats. This will hike the number of seats in each higher secondary batch from 50 to 60. The number of seats in these districts will accordingly go up to 28,180.
The districts from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur have been allowed a 10% increase. This will raise the number of seats in these eight districts by 16,550. Each batch will have 55 seats. The marginal seat increase is not applicable to batches in unaided higher secondary schools.
Despite the decision to allow a marginal seat increase, the number of Plus One seats will still fall short of demand. A total of 4,17,101 students cleared the SSLC examinations this year.
Besides these students, students from other streams such as the CBSE, ICSE, and other State boards too are applying for admission to Plus One.
Till Friday evening, more than 4.37 lakh online applications had been received. Of them, 33,646 applications were from those who had passed the Class 10 CBSE examinations. Over 3,446 applications were received from students from the ICSE stream. There are more days to go for the last date for submitting applications - August 14. Last year, more than 49,500 students from the CBSE and ICSE steams applied for Plus One seats and over 41,000 were given allotment.
The demand is expected to be higher also on account of the return of expatriates and other State residents in the wake of the pandemic.
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