SPACE JAM IN BETTER SCHOOLS 

Calcutta, June 11 :    Calcutta, June 11:  The success rate in Madhyamik might have declined marginally this time, but the rush for admission to Class XI in the well-known city schools is expected to be greater than last year. Most schools, which started distributing forms from Monday, have set steep standards for admission to the Higher Secondary courses. The Madhyamik results, announced on Thursday, showed that 86,831 examinees have obtained first division marks, an improvement on last year's figure by a few thousands. But the overall success rate has dropped to 70.23 per cent, compared to 70.45 per cent in 2000. Sources in the well-known schools said they expected a greater rush for admission because of the higher number of examinees passing in the first division. Moreover, despite the state government's claims that nearly 2,000 secondary schools in the districts have been upgraded to HS standards to prevent the rush to city schools, the situation has not changed. South Point will begin distributing admission forms for external students on June 13. Internal students will be able to collect forms from Tuesday. "There's no doubt that the competition will be tougher this time. We will first see how many applications we receive. We will then decide how to tackle the situation," said A.N. Banerjee, principal, South Point School. The schools are compelled to fix higher percentages because of limited seats. This puts students opting for the science stream under most pressure. For example, while there are 500 Higher Secondary seats in South Point, nearly 760 students have passed Madhyamik from the school this year. So, a method of random screening will be employed to enable external students gain admission. Limited seats are a matter of concern for the students as well. "I wanted to study commerce at St Xavier's. But I have given up hope after coming to know about the admission criteria," said Tanmoy Mukherjee, who has scored 68 per cent marks.