MUMBAI: Students, who reappeared for Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam, can now apply for the vocational courses, as the Supreme Court has extended the deadline for filing the forms for the courses.

Earlier, there was no provision that all the procedures for vocational courses should be closed by August 15.

Due to this, the students, who reappeared for the exam, could not fill the form for the vocational courses, as their results came late.

The Education Department has allowed students, who failed their HSC board examinations, to appear for re-examination. This re-examination was conducted in July-August by the State board.

But their results came late and by that time, the last date for submission of the application for the vocational courses had lapsed. The State government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) asking for more time to complete the admission procedure. The SC extended the last date for the vocational courses up to August 31.

Vinod Tawade, School Education Minister, said, "After the decision, about 18,278 students, who have cleared their HSC after reappearing for the exam, can now enrol themselves for the vocational courses."