Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: Cut-off scores for junior college admissions, which were released today, brought cheers to science aspirants, but left arts hopefuls disappointed.

The department of higher education has jacked up the minimum qualifying percentage for arts by four per cent in some prominent colleges of the state, while lowering the cut-off marks for science courses in Plus Two.

Sources in the department said this year, 2.37 lakh students had applied for arts, which is an increase of over 33,000 from last year. “Many students who have secured good marks in Class X exams have shown interest for arts subjects. And the share of such candidates has gradually increased over the years, suggesting that the craze for science is slowly, but surely fading,” said a senior higher education official.

SCS Junior College in Puri has set the highest cut-off score for arts at 62 per cent, which has increased from last year’s 60.67 per cent. “These days, candidates are making a conscious decision to study arts because new avenues are opening up in the field,” said Shuvada Mohanty, principal of BJB (Junior) College, which has also raised its arts cut-off by two per cent.

Well-known educationist R.N. Panda said the preference for arts, or even commerce, has been growing because of a fall in quality the of science education in the state.

“Mushrooming of Plus Two colleges and self-financing institutions that offer science courses as well as coaching facilities for IIT-JEE, has led to this situation. With so many options, even a student securing third division is assured of getting a science seat. The cut-off for science has been lowered perhaps to deter good students from enrolling in these second-rate science colleges,” said Panda, who is also the principal of Institute of Higher Secondary Education, a Plus Two science college under the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University.

Science applications, too, have increased by around 1,800 but the qualifying marks have still gone down marginally. Last year, 86,019 students had shown inclination for the stream.“In dream destinations like BJB and Ravenshaw, it has been lowered by less than one per cent which is not a significant drop. However, the Saraswati Junior Vidya Mandir of Ganja, which has been doing exceptionally well in Plus Two exams, has set the third highest cut-off (after BJB and Ravenshaw) at 90.17 per cent,” said a higher education official.

The state has 1,334 junior colleges, including self-financing institutions, with a strength of over 3.13 lakh seats. This year, over 3.31 lakh candidates had applied for Plus Two, of which 2.55 lakh have been invited for the first round of admissions on August 7.