THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision to allot more Plus II batches to schools in the southern region of the state would mean a rise in the number of vacant seats in the schools in the region. The number of students eligible for higher studies from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam districts in 2011 is 1.75 lakh. In contrast, the number of seats is 2.17 lakh. The students who qualified for higher studies from Thrissur to Kasargod districts is 2.42 lakh. However, the number of seats available for them for higher education is only 2.03 lakh.Of the 550 newly-sanctioned Plus II batches, 60 are in Kollam and 63 in Alappuzha. The order on allotting the new batches was issued on Wednesday. Though the cabinet decision was to start 335 batches, there was widespread criticism from many quarters, including NSS general secretary A Sukumaran Nair, as the majority of batches were in Malabar. Of them, 100 batches were in Malappuram district alone.As per the revised list, Malappuram will get 122 batches. The break up of batches in other districts is as follows: Idukki- 31, Palakkad-67, Thrissur-68, Kozhikode-80 and Kannur-52.Of the new batches, 182 will be in government schools, with 71 in science,39 in humanities and 72 in commerce. There are 368 batches in aided schools with 136 in science, 66 in humanities and 166 in commerce. The allotment to the new batches will be made through the single window allotment on August 24.According to rough estimates, the state has 4.2 lakh seats in higher secondary and various other vocational streams including polytechnics, ITCs and ITIs, for those who passed SSLC.However, there is a problem when it comes to the distribution of higher secondary seats geographically and demographically.As per the 2010 statistics, as many as 2.35 lakh of the total students who passed SSLC in 2010 were from the seven districts in Malabar region. The number of students who qualified for higher studies after SSLC in the districts from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam was 1.73 lakh. This meant that there was an excess of 44,000 seats in the institutions in the south and central districts of Kerala, while there was a shortage of 32,000 seats in the districts between Thrissur and Kasargod. In 2010, 61,805 students had passed SSLC from Malappuram which was the highest number in the state.However, the number of seats available for them in the district was 43,495. Statistics showed that there was a shortage of about 7,000 seats in Kozhikode, 6,000 seats in Palakkad, 3,500 seats each in Kannur and Thrissur, and 1,600 seats in Kasargod.In 2009 too, the situation was the same. When 1.78 lakh students passed SSLC in the south and central districts of the state, the number of seats in these districts was 2.16 lakh. On the other hand, when 2.32 lakh students passed in north Kerala, only 1.83 lakh seats were available there. This meant that as many as 48,000 students had to look for alternatives to continue their studies. The situation in Malappuram was worse then. More than 30,000 students did not get seats in Malappuram in 2009.
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