Maharashtra FYJC admissions: No system of manual submission of marks for non-state board Class 10 students

According to the existing system, for applicants of FYJC from Maharashtra State Board, their Class 10 scores are directly sourced from the state board, leaving no room for errors or duplication. However, FYJC applicants from non-state boards such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) had to manually enter their marks into the online system while filling the admission form.

To eliminate this loophole, it is now decided to find alternative ways to directly source their Class 10 marks into the system. A senior official from the school education department said, “An ideal solution for non-state boards will be to create a system like Maharashtra State Board, where students can enter their seat number, and their marks will be directly sourced from the board. We are in talks with them for the same. We are also exploring options like the Government of India’s UMANG app, which integrates with DigiLocker to allow users to view CBSE and ICSE results. Additionally, we are considering making it mandatory for non-state board students to submit their marks through their respective schools for verification.”

The official emphasized that the department is firm on not allowing manual submission of marks for the upcoming FYJC admissions to avoid potential issues. “A final procedure is still under process and will be finalised soon,” said the official.

In December 2024, 50 students had their FYJC admissions cancelled by junior colleges run by Somaiya Trust in Mumbai after it was revealed that they had gained admission through fraudulent means. The fraud was uncovered during a routine document check, leading to an FIR against college staff members who facilitated those admissions. The ability to manually input marks into the system was found to be the key to this malpractice by the education department.

Earlier this month, the state government announced that starting from the 2025-26 academic year, FYJC admissions across the state will be conducted through a centralized online system which was limited to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune-Pimpri Chinchwad, Nagpur, Nashik, and Amravati, until now.

While this extension has been met with resistance from parents and other stakeholders, the education department is working to ensure a more secure and foolproof system. A detailed admissions guide, including new measures to guarantee fairness, will be released soon.