Historic jump in numbers opting for science in schools
Nearly 39,000 more students have taken admission in the science
stream this year compared to last year. This is highest increase in the
history of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB),
officials said. In fact, for the first, the number of students studying science
has crossed the one lakh mark.
This is also the first year that the board has introduced the semester system in
class XI (science) and the exams will be conducted by the board. As many as 1.19
lakh students are enrolled in the class XII science stream this year, compared to
80,000 who appeared for board exam in the previous year. The class XI science board
semester exams have been scheduled on October 13.
The historic jump is being attributed to the students showing a positive response
to the semester system. While the number of board exams will increase from one to
four, students will get to break the syllabus into four parts, considerably easing
the stress.
Former GSHSEB chairman Hasmukh Hingu said the HSC science results have also been
encouraging in the past couple of years, which has prompted more students to opt
for the stream. This year, 1.39 lakh more students have also passed the SSC exam
as compared to last year which has contributed to science stream getting more students.
Besides, the number of seats in professional courses has increased substantially,
making it easier for a student with average marks to get admission in an engineering
or pharmacy course. Unlike previous years when students were forced to study in
the bachelor of science course if they got less than 60 per cent marks, now students
with 45 per cent marks have got admission in engineering and pharmacy courses, M.
N. Patel, member of the Admission Committee for Professional Courses said.
Courtesy: Times of India
