Students admitted offline to Class 11 by junior colleges during the 2025-26 academic year will be allowed to appear for their Class 12 examinations, while the institutions responsible face a fine of ₹5,000 per student and disciplinary action against principals. The order has been issued by Maharashtra’s Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
The action follows repeated instances of junior colleges bypassing the state’s centralised online admission process and admitting students through offline applications. The issue became urgent when the process for submitting Class 12 examination forms began, raising concerns about whether students with unauthorised admissions would be permitted to take the examinations.
Under the education department’s directions, the fine will be recovered from the managements of schools and junior colleges that granted the admissions. Institutions have been specifically barred from collecting the amount from students. The department has also ordered that responsibility be fixed on the headmasters and principals who allowed the admissions.
Disciplinary action against the concerned headmasters and principals may include withholding salary increments or demotion, under the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1981. Managements have been directed to conduct inquiries and take action against those found responsible. If an institution fails to act after the inquiry, the matter must be reported to the Directorate under the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Regulation Act, 1977.
The affected students will not be assigned examination centres at the same colleges that granted them the unauthorised admissions. They will instead be sent to other examination centres. The order also requires the department to examine the regular attendance of these students, the physical facilities available at the institutions and classroom capacity, along with verification requirements linked to the Right to Education framework.
The education department has sought written explanations from the schools and junior colleges that violated the centralised admission system for the 2025-26 academic year. Departmental officials have been instructed to complete action in all such cases and submit reports within seven days. The order warns that officials who fail to act within the prescribed period may also face disciplinary action.
The directive also requires institutions to submit details of their physical infrastructure. This includes information relevant to whether the colleges had adequate classrooms and facilities for the students they admitted. The department’s instructions place the responsibility for verifying these details on the regional education authorities.
Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Director Dr Mahesh Palkar said the principals and headmasters responsible for violating the government’s admission decision must be identified and proceeded against according to the applicable service rules. He directed the divisional education deputy directors to ensure that institutions initiate the required inquiries and report cases where action is not taken.
Colleges that repeat the practice during the 2026-27 academic year will face serious action, according to the order. The directions therefore combine immediate examination relief for affected students with penalties intended to enforce Maharashtra’s centralised online admission system in future admission cycles.
