cellSpacing=0 width=100> src="/ArticleImages/Images18/yasmin.jpg" vspace=5>"I definitely think that merit should be given prime importance for admission to any educational institutions. But I do favour some minimal quota for scheduled castes and students with exemplary achievements in sports.

Some people use influence and also make donations for a seat in college. This should definitely be done away with. It's frustrating to see this happen because these students don't study all year long and then conveniently buy a seat.

In turn they are depriving a deserving student, one who has slogged all year long to get that very same seat. Resorting to such methods as paid seats is extremely unfair.
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Whether it's in medical colleges, schools or degree colleges I feel that merit should be the main criteria for admission.

Also, people who take advantage of the different quotas and get admission often cannot cope with the curriculum and the standards of the class and other students.

So they get frustrated and drop out of college. Thus the whole process of learning is left incomplete and futile. In this way an important seat is wasted.

Another solution for fair admission into colleges would be to have a centralised system. That means, students from a certain area could go to a certain college. I know that this would restrict a student's choices but I feel it could be a solution.

My basic belief is that though a limited amount of seats should be reserved for sportspersons, scheduled castes etc., merit should definitely be the key factor for admissions.

Yasmin Khanbhai is a 17-year-old student of HR College and a resident of Bandra Reclamation. She spoke to Kanika Parab.