CAP checklist to be declared today

Nagpur: As the checklist (draft merit list) for Std XI’s Centralized Admission Process (CAP) is declared on Wednesday, the focus will be on the battle of boards. With number of 90% plus scorers increasing in both, CBSE and state board Class X exams, it will be interesting to see who grabs the maximum spots in the top 100.
Already, many state board schools and even political activists are up in arms over CBSE’s skyrocketing 90% club.
Shieling Patve, assistant education director of Nagpur division and member of CAP committee, said, “The list will be declared around 11am after which we will have details of the board the students belong to.”
While Wednesday’s list will just be a draft list, it seldom changes and hence will give a good indication of how CBSE and state board stand.
Vinod Tiwari, co-convener of BJP’s legal and legislative cell, wrote to CM Devendra Fadnavis and education minister Vinod Tawde earlier this month, demanding 90% seat reservation in Std XI for state board students.
Tiwari had written to CM that “in the peculiar circumstances arising out of such liberal exam & evaluation pattern adopted in CBSE Std X as compared to our state board, it is imperative and fit case to use extra ordinary power available in the state government.”
He added that 90% of seats in all categories should be reserved for state board students considering the overall numbers. Tiwari said the remaining 10% should be split between other board students in city which as of now are CBSE and ICSE.
The battle of boards will be for bifocal seats only, just like it has been over the last decade. Bifocal is a sub-stream in Science which is always in demand and skewed demand-supply ratio means cutoffs go extremely high. Bifocal is a branch within the science stream offered for Std XI and XII. It allows the students to take an elective (electronics, computer science, fisheries etc) instead of a language. Students preparing for competitive exams, especially medical and engineering, prefer bifocal as it gives them extra focus. Also, scoring in languages is tougher compared to the electives and this helps boost marks.