The Online College Admissions System (OCAS), developed by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) in collaboration with the Punjab Higher Education Department (PHED), has received more than 225,000 online applications for intermediate admissions in public colleges across Punjab. Female applicants account for over 147,000 of these applications, which is 65.25 percent of the total, while male applicants submitted approximately 78,000 applications, or 34.75 percent. The figures highlight the significant participation of female students in the admission process, and they show that applicants are using the online system in large numbers for entry into public sector colleges in the province.
Faculty of Arts (FA) and Intermediate in Computer Science (ICS) emerged as the most popular disciplines, receiving 86,220 and 72,043 applications respectively, which together account for around 70 percent of the total. FSc Pre-Medical ranked third with 39,255 applications. Female applicants represented 80 percent of the applications in Pre-Medical, 69 percent in FA and 58 percent in ICS. These shares show that women formed the majority in all three of the leading disciplines, with the highest proportion in Pre-Medical, where they submitted four out of every five applications received through the system.
Among technical disciplines, FA-IT received 9,951 applications, with female applicants accounting for 63 percent. Male applicants showed greater representation in Diploma in Information Technology (DIT) and Diploma in Commerce (D.Com). Other programmes, including Home Economics, Medical Lab Technology, Dental Hygiene and Physiotherapy Technology, received comparatively fewer applications. The pattern in these technical and diploma programmes differs from the larger disciplines, since male applicants were more visible in some of them, and the smaller health and skills programmes drew a lower number of applications than the main intermediate streams.
Commenting on the initiative, PITB Chairman Faisal Yousaf said that OCAS has simplified the college admission process and helped students avoid long queues. He added that the educational data generated through the system is also supporting informed decision making by the government and future planning. Applicants can submit their applications through ocas.punjab.gov.pk. With OCAS now integrated with PayZen, applicants can pay admission fees through mobile banking, ATMs, debit and credit cards, TCS and branchless banking channels, which gives students and families several ways to complete the payment step of the admission process without visiting a college.
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