KOCHI: As securing admission in courses and schools of the students’ choice gets tougher, the demand for Plus One seats in management quota in aided, higher secondary schools has increased immensely. Parents are approaching school managements with recommendations from politicians and are ready to pay huge amounts of money to secure admission for their children.
Even students with A+ grade in all subjects in SSLC exam are trying to secure management seats fearing that they will not get schools or courses of their choice under the merit list in the single-window admission system. The highest demand is for science streams and most students are trying to get management seats in schools situated in urban areas.
“Management seats are normally sought by students who perform badly in SSLC exam. But this time, even students who secured full A+ are worried as they didn’t get admission in the first allotment as per their choice. So many parents are trying to secure management seats at the earliest. The competition gives the management an opportunity to earn huge amounts as donation fee,” said Anil M George, general secretary of Department Higher Secondary School Teachers’ Association.
Sources said the amount per seat, under management quota, ranges between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh in some schools, depending on the course opted and the institution’s excellence in academics and extra-curricular activities; and parents are ready to pay. Usually people wait till the announcement of the second allotment list to pay the amount but this time many are ensuring the seat with ready payment due to high demand.
But, many schools in rural areas are likely to have many vacant seats due to few takers. General secretary of Aided Higher Secondary Teacher Association S Manoj said the increased demand for management seats is temporary and will decrease after the second allotment list is announced.
“Students prefer schools situated in towns and cities rather than rural regions as they would want to join entrance coaching classes along with the higher secondary education. The rush for admission in merit quota is felt in select schools only and many schools in rural regions have vacant seats after first allotment,” Manoj said.
