The schools say they cannot accommodate the students, the District Education Officer says other officials are investigating the matter.

And to ease this rush, the government has decided to grant permission for more classes in non-granted schools. The problem with this, says a top education official, is that it's an expensive option for the students.

Till last year, said Vadodara Principals' Association president Thakorbhai Patel, 45 Gujarati-medium and 11 English-medium schools in the city had Std XI. This year, the government gave permission for 14 extra classes in grant-run schools and five classes in non-grant-run school keeping the additional rush in mind.

When contacted, District Education Officer V Nanavati said, ``These strudents were kept in mind when the sanctioning process for classes was on in June.'' There are still some schools, including Saurav School, which could accommodate additional students. He cannot explain, though, how this shortfall in seats has come about.

Nanavati admits that a few students would face problems and the Commissioner of Higher Education was already looking into it.

``In our school there are at present 70 students per class and by no means will we be able to admit more students,'' said Harshad Patel, principal of Alembic Vidyalay. Adding to the difficulty, he said, was the cut-off criterion.

Principal of Vidyut Board school Nikhil Desai said, ``Though classes were sanctioned this year, the number was not adequate and, with the present infrastructure, no school is in a position to grant admissions to more students.'' Schools have already admitted more students than their capacity, he adds, and without permission from the state government to expand infrastructure more admissions would remain a problem.

SSC officials say, on condition of anonymity, that this year's problem is a direct fallout of the new rule. ``In previous years, students who failed in one or more subjects were expected to sit for the October examinations and would be eligible to apply for Class XI only in the next academic year,'' explained an SSC board official. With the new rule, he said, students would not lose a year ``but schools would face problems as it is not easy to create classrooms and all other facilities in such a short period''.

Meanwhile, city unit Youth Congress president Narendra Rawat has warned of an agitation unless all students who had cleared their supplementary examinations be granted admissions.