KARACHI, Aug 12: In case of a delay on the part the educational boards in the issuance of consolidated SSC marks sheets, the Centralised Admission Policy (CAP) Committee may extend the last date for the submission of forms.

This was stated by the committee’s chairman Dr Rafiq Ahmed Siddiqui here on Sunday.

He said that all admissions would be granted purely on merit. For the very purpose, Dr Siddiqui said, in the admission forms eight options had been made available to the candidates for colleges of their choice.

He said that for the convenience of the candidates, last year’s closing marks for admissions to city colleges had been mentioned in the admission brochure as well.

Dr Siddiqui said that candidates with a gap in their academic career were also eligible to apply, but five marks for each gap year would be deducted from their total marks.

As many as 83,700 admissions would be granted to city colleges this year. Admission forms are available at 41 designated branches of Habib Bank in different parts of the city till Aug 21, and duly completed forms should be submitted back to the same branches during this period.

The CAP has also established 41 information centers where senior education officials, besides CAP Committee members, would be available to guide the admission seekers and their parents regarding the admission procedure.

There are 118 colleges and 32 higher secondary schools functioning in the city. Out of them 55 colleges and 15 higher secondary schools are for male and the rest for female students.

The classes for new entrants are expected to commence in the mid of September. When contacted, Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association chief Prof Riaz Ahsan said that the centralised admission system was an education-friendly and time saving process. He said that in the past students had to apply separately for admission to different city colleges, which was a costly and cumbersome process.

He said that the SPLA had played a crucial role for the introduction of CAP system for class XI admissions. However, he stressed the need for more transparency in the admission process.

Prof Ahsan said that for affiliation of the colleges the board had fixed seating capacity of 80 students in a classroom, but some college administrations violate the rule by combining two classes in a single room.

When asked about the eligibility of the candidates for CAP, he said candidates securing C grades were also included in the policy, while those with D grades could not get admission in the science and commerce groups.—PPI