Jamshedpur, May 9: With the marked improvement in the matric results this year in the East Singhbhum district, taking admission to the intermediate colleges could prove to be an uphill task for the students here.

The district achieved a pass percentage of 79.87 per cent in the matriculation examinations this year.

While most of the intermediate colleges have increased the cut-off percentage, the good news for the students is that the colleges are mulling to upgrade facilities in a bid to check migration. Some colleges have also decided to take undertaking from the parents of the students guaranteeing 75 per cent attendance of their wards.

Most of the colleges in the city are hopeful of completing the admission procedure by the second week of June before commencing the classes for the new academic session.

Jamshedpur Co-operative College, Jamshedpur Workers? College and Karim City College have already decided to increase the cut-off percentage in an attempt to draw the brightest students. Jamshedpur Co-operative College has decided to set the cut-off percentage at 65 per cent. Last year, it was 60 per cent.

?We were compelled to increase the cut-off percentage due to improvement in the matriculation results in the district this year. The decision to increase the cut-off marks was taken by the admission committee,? said A.K. Sinha, the principal of Jamshedpur Co-operative College.

The Jamshedpur Workers? College has increased the cut-off percentage for direct admissions to 50 per cent. Last session, it was 45 per cent.

Principal of Jamshedpur Workers? College S.S. Razi said: ?Students will be forced to jostle for seats if the cut-off percentage is not increased. In an attempt to avoid huge rush of students, we have decided to increase the eligibility percentage in all the three streams ? science, commerce and arts,? he said.

Although, the Jamshedpur Women's College and Graduate School College for Women is yet to take a decision on the criteria for admission and distribution of admission forms (prospectus), they too have decided to provide direct admissions to students securing at least 60 per cent marks.

?In all the three streams, students securing 60 per cent marks will get direct admission while those below that will be selected on merit,? said Ranu Ghosh, principal of Graduate School College for Women.

The Karim City College, a Ranchi University affiliated minority college, has set 70 per cent as cut-off percentage for direct admission in science stream. In commerce and arts, the eligibility criteria are 55 and 45 per cent respectively.

Apart from the regular streams ? science, arts and commerce, the students can choose from array of vocational courses being started in the colleges in the city this year.

The Jamshedpur Co-operative College will introduce two new vocational subjects ?bio-technology and engineering drawing ? for the students of science stream while Graduate School College for Women will introduce health care and beauty culture and fashion studies as vocational subjects for the intermediate students.

The Abdul Bari Memorial College has got a nod from the Jharkhand Academic Council (which conducts the intermediate examination) for introducing a vocational course on computer science.

In sharp contrast to previous years, the colleges are also focussing on infrastructure development and increasing the facilities for the students.

Abdul Bari Memorial College has decided to increase the number of computers in the existing computer laboratory. The college has in its kitty about Rs 5 lakh to upgrade the computer laboratory.

Likewise, the Jamshedpur Workers? College has decided to spend over Rs 40,000 for procuring textbooks on intermediate subjects for its library. The college authorities said they would also introduce a noble method to check absenteeism of students.