A decade ago if a science student was asked what he wanted to be, the answer would invariably be, "A doctor". This trend, however, seems to have been reversed in recent years. An increasing number of students have started opting for maths over biology in school, which allows them admission into hundreds of professional engineering and pharmacy courses.
This year, 83,000 students opted for the A group, taking up maths, physics and chemistry, while only 36,000 students opted for the B group which consists of biology, physics and chemistry.
In 2007, 31,000 students opted for B group while only 25,000 students opted for A group. This was the first time that science students were given the option of choosing maths or biology. After that, however, every year the number of students opting for A group has continued to rise. So much so that in 2012, the number of students pursing B group is almost half of that pursuing A group.
Experts say that one of the most significant reasons that drive this trend is the fact that students choosing A group have a greater chance of getting admissions in professional courses compared to those opting for group B.
"Students scoring less than 85 per cent in B group stand very few chances of getting admission in medical, dental and other professional courses unless their parents are ready to shell out an extremely hefty amount for payment seats. On the other hand, even those students who have failed in A group in the first attempt, later cleared the supplementary exams and scored more than 45 per cent were eligible or admission in engineering colleges", said secretary of the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) M N Patel.
Moreover, there are only 7,500 seats for medical and paramedical courses available for the B group while 50,000 odd seats available for the students of the A group. In the past years, Gujarat has gained high number of engineering and pharmacy seats which has benefitted A group students.