Game of numbers: Commerce gets over 50% new FYJC seats

MUMBAI: This year, more than 50% of the seats added to the pool of FYJC admissions are from the Commerce stream. Growing at the expense of Science, a wide range of options at the undergraduate level is said to be the driving force behind an increased demand and hence supply of Commerce seats.
According to the data provided by the office of the deputy director of education, Mumbai region, a total number of 3,840 seats sanctioned in 2016 at 28 new colleges.Of these, 2,000 seats are in the Commerce stream. This is followed by 1,200 seats in the Science stream and just 640 seats in the Arts stream.
Colleges in the city are seeing a growing demand from students for the Commerce stream. “Students see a better correlation between a Commerce degree and getting a job as compared to Arts or Science. Due to this, every year more and more students opt for Commerce,” said Marie Fernandes, principal of St Andrew’s College, Bandra. Out of the 28 new colleges, 24 opted for seats in the Commerce stream.
Principals said that the increased demand is a result of the growing cost of science education. “Science involves a lot of costs due to the coaching and preparation for competitive exams. Everyone might not be able to afford this. In addition, only dedicated students want to get into the fierce competition of engineering and medical. There is very little scope for pure science in country. So, a lot of students choose to opt for Commerce,” said Jyoti Thakur, executive coordinator, Jai Hind College, Churchgate. Commerce seats also constitutes almost 57% of the total seats available for FYJC admissions.
Officials said this is a trend typical of the Mumbai region only. “There is a lot of demand for Commerce seats from students due to this, we get a lot of requests for adding Commerce divisions in existing or new colleges. This trend is very peculiar to the Mumbai region. In the rest of Maharashtra, the demand for science is higher,” said B B Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai.