The Calicut Geography Teachers Association (CGTA) has urged the Education Department to allot additional Plus Two seats in humanities courses in Malabar districts.
The government has reportedly decided to increase Plus One seats in Palakkad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts in view of the agitations launched by various student organisations. It has been reported that only government schools would be allotted additional seats though there had been demand from aided and unaided schools too. The government is also planning to transfer vacant Plus Two seats in districts such as Pathanamthitta and Kottayam to schools in Malabar.
As many as 1,96,132 students became eligible for higher education after the SSLC results were declared in Malappuram, Kannur, Kozhikode, and Palakkad districts. However, there are only 1,43,470 Plus Two seats in these districts.
The CGTA demanded that the allotment of seats in science and humanities courses should be in equal proportion. N.K. Saleem, general secretary, CGTA, pointed out that across Malabar, the number of seats in science courses had been higher than the rest despite many students who clear Class 10 exams opting for humanities courses. Both aided and government school authorities always opt for science courses. However, this forces students with average academic credentials to opt for science courses as they were left with no other option, Mr. Saleem said. Many of them later struggle with the syllabus and might end up scoring low marks in Plus Two exams, he claimed.
The association leaders also claimed that combination of different subjects such as journalism, geography, communicative English, and geology were available in the humanities stream. However, science courses are often a mix of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and Computer Science only, they added.
