# 21,000 Maharashtra students unable to fill HSC forms, schools face action 2026-10-28T20:06:51+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet At least 21,000 students across Maharashtra cannot submit their Class XII board exam forms because their names are missing from the system. The last date to complete the process is 31 October. Education department officials said the mismatch arose because the students were admitted to Class XI through offline processes, which are not permitted in the state. Secondary education director Mahesh Palkar said deputy directors in each division have been asked to take action against schools that allowed offline admissions. School education minister Dada Bhuse said an inquiry will be conducted and action will be taken against institutes found violating rules. An official said Pune division has sent notices to about 120 colleges, levying a fine of Rs 3,000 per student, though a department note specifies a penalty of Rs 5,000 per student. Students can fill forms with the regular fee until 31 October, with a late fee between 1 and 15 November, and with an additional late fee between 16 and 30 November. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The 21,000 students are caught between a system designed to track admissions online and schools that bypassed it. The penalty disparity, Rs 3,000 per student levied by Pune division against the Rs 5,000 the department wants, signals uncertainty over enforcement. With the regular deadline on 31 October, the immediate next step is a government decision on how to register the affected students without penalising them for school-level violations. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Led with the student count and deadline, attributed blame to schools via officials This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Dada Bhuse, HSC, Maharashtra, Mahesh Palkar, Pune Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/21000-maharashtra-students-unable-to-fill-hsc-forms-schools-face-action/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/21000-maharashtra-students-unable-to-fill-hsc-forms-schools-face-action/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/