Bhubaneswar, May 9: The availability of seats in the Plus Two colleges across the state is much less than the huge number of students, who cleared the annual High School Certificate (HSC) examination this year.

As the shortfall is nearly one lakh, not all the students, who passed matriculation from the state board this year, can get into the colleges.

As many as 4.51 lakh students cleared the HSC examination, of which the results were announced yesterday. But, a total of 3.59 lakh seats are available in all the Plus Two colleges across the state.

The situation may turn worse if the 58,000 students, who took the tests from the CBSE, and the 5,000, who appeared the exams from the ICSE, decide to join the Plus Two courses.

Authorities in the higher education department, however, do not appear to be much worried.

"Every year, new Plus Two colleges are added. Last year, we had 1,467 colleges with a total of 3,59,138 seats, of which 14,555 seats continue to remain vacant," said a senior official.

Moreover, the CBSE and ICSE schools already have provisions for Class XI and XII, and it is very rare for students from these schools to look for admissions in the government-run Plus Two colleges, the authorities said.

Officials reasoned that of late, most students had been opting for vocational courses, skill-training courses, ITI, polytechnic, diploma and other technical courses. Female students, too, go for courses such as the ANM and the GNM.

Students and parents, however, refuse to buy the theory. "The seats must be lying vacant in the lesser-known colleges or those located in the rural areas. What is the point in not increasing the seats in the premier colleges such as the BJB Autonomous College or the Ramadevi College, where students are interested in taking admission," said Suhani, a student.

The opportunities are even fewer for students, who are opting for the science stream. With just 1.16 lakh seats in the science stream, the race is going to be tougher. Moreover, the state government will now be working overtime to ensure quality education in the Plus Two science stream, so that the students perform well in national level exams such as the JEE Mains and the ALL India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT).

Only 3,400 students out of the 50,000-odd ones, who appeared the JEE Advance from the state, qualified for it. The AIPMT results are yet to be announced.

Besides, the 110-odd engineering colleges in the state have been trying hard for the past eight years to fill up the huge seat vacancies they are facing. They have blamed the poor quality of Plus Two science students in the state for this.