Maharashtra: The education department would seek a 60:40 formula for CET and Std XII marks.

According to school education minister Deepak Kesarkar, the school education department will present a proposal to the higher and technical education department seeking a 60:40 formula for CET - Common Entrance Test  marks and Std XII marks for enrollment to undergraduate courses that currently rely solely on CET marks.

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He was addressing the State Council of Education Research and Training headquarters, where he was kicking off a two-day state-level education forum.

"We see that many students do not attend school but instead focus on their tuition classes," Kesarkar remarked. He added "We will offer a proposal based on our focus on their tuition classes. Our department will send a suggestion regarding the possibility of providing Std XII marks with 40% weightage in admissions to professional institutes. We will arrange a meeting with the Department of Higher and Technical Education to assess its feasibility."

It is not a recent decision to give Std XII marks weight. Former higher and technical education minister Uday Samant of the Uddhav Thackeray administration stated last year that his office was working to give Std XII and CET marks a 50:50 weight. Before the administration changed, he had announced the implementation of such an admissions pattern from 2023 to 2024.

According to Mahesh Palkar, director of education (Yojana), 1.63 crore people in the state were estimated by the previous census to be illiterate. A survey was needed to determine the real illiterate population in the state before literacy campaigns could be implemented.

He said that the teachers' boycott prevented it from happening. "We tried to convince them that this is their creation, but they refused. We are holding this session so that all educational officers may comprehend the initiative and contribute to the achievement of the New India Literacy Programme," he continued.

Suraj Mandhare, the commissioner of education, asserted that the notion of literacy has evolved from basic literacy to the development of essential life skills in a person.

Illiteracy is still a problem in our society. Teachers need to realize that they are all responsible for educating society, not just the students in their classrooms. Every government employee has a lot on their plate, but one must be able to give top priority to tasks that advance the country, and teaching the illiterate is at the top of that list, according to Mandhare.

The reason Maharashtra slipped from first place a few years ago to eighth in the most recent rating was discussed by education officers when Ranjit Singh Deol, principal secretary of school education and sports, called them. He demanded that the data be promptly updated and that the standard of instruction be raised.

Deol claimed that despite the government's desire to carry out the process, the teacher recruitment process was halted because several districts had not authorized their rosters.

According to the availability of topic teachers, there is also a requirement to choose the right professors. All schools require maths and science teachers, and our first objective is to make sure every student has a subject teacher.

What do you think about 60:40 formula for CET and Std 12 marks for examination?

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