Gujarat GCAS Portal Made Mandatory for All College Admissions
Transparent college admissions are a priority of the Gujarat government, as it has decided to make the Gujarat Centralised Admission System (GCAS) portal the single point of entry for students aiming to get admission to a state-run university. This is a major step taken in the wake of increased fears of colleges trying to undermine the official digital platform.
The educational authorities have been quite strict on the institutions found still providing alternative admission channels beyond the GCAS portal system. The order points out that all colleges under the government universities should strictly utilize this centralized system, and there is no room left for parallel admission systems that are possibly lacking the element of transparency.
GCAS is a major step towards the digitalization of higher education in the state. The government hopes to provide a level playing field to all the students, in addition to making sure that everything is merit-based by filtering all the applications through one platform to all the participating institutions.
The Commissioner of Schools has provided clear directives to the education institutions not to transform the stipulated GCAS portal practices. Colleges that were identified to motivate students to do offline admissions or create confusion regarding the process were subject to instant punishment by the state authorities.
Such an enforcement approach shows the intent of the government to uphold the integrity of the GCAS portal system. The authorities have been categorical in stating that any threat to destabilize the centralized admission process will result in dire consequences for the involved institutions.
The crackdown is specifically on colleges that have been deceiving parents and students into believing that there are other backdoors to admission by implying that there are other portals to admission besides the official GCAS portal. This is not only against the government guidelines but also causes unwarranted tension to families going through the admission process.
