In a move to streamline the admission process, ensure transparency and curb exorbitant fee charges, the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TG BIE) will shortly unveil Junior Colleges Online Services Telangana (JOST), an online system for intermediate admissions in the State from the next year.
The new system, which will be on the lines of the Degree Online Services Telangana (DOST) for admissions to degree programmes, will do away with present practice of offline intermediate admissions and instead launch a centralised online admission system.
The new online portal will allow students to apply to multiple junior colleges, including the government, corporate and private colleges from the comfort of their homes. Even the admission allotment is granted online.
For years, some corporate colleges employed a PR system to enroll students into their colleges even before the Class X results are announced and admission notifications are issued by the TG BIE. On the other hand, the government junior colleges struggled for admissions as most students take admissions in the private or corporate
junior colleges.
The new system is expected to streamline the admission process in all junior colleges. Prior to launching online admissions, the TG BIE decided to expedite the affiliation process for the academic year 2025-26. The Board has also focused on addressing the fee structure issue.
Earlier, in order to introduce online admissions for junior colleges, the government scrapped the grading system and decided to award 100 percent marks in the SSC Public Exams.
Under the grading system, Class X students were allotted grades (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2 and E) depending on the marks range secured. These grades made it difficult to fairly compare and rank students in the online admission process and allot them seats.
“We are putting in place a robust system, better than the DOST, to hold online intermediate admissions from next year. We will only give college admission but not hostel admission. Prior to launch, we will complete the affiliation process and try to address some key issues including fee enhancement as being sought by private colleges,” a senior official said.