Bhubaneswar: Even as more than 1.09 lakh aspirants competed for just 2,550 BEd seats in Odisha this year, 26 seats have remained vacant after the first round of admissions, prompting the higher education department to extend the admission process to accommodate eligible candidates.The state’s two-year BEd course, therefore, saw more than 43 applicants for every available seat, underlining the intense demand for teacher training, particularly among female aspirants. The department has decided to continue the Phase-I admission process with another spot round to ensure that the remaining seats are filled up and the sanctioned intake is optimally utilised.There are 31 institutions in the state offering two-year BEd course, including 15 teacher education institutions, seven general degree colleges and eight public universities. The Govt Hindi Teachers’ Training Institute at Cuttack also offers BEd in Hindi.According to data available on the department’s student academic management system (SAMS), 76,447 women applied for BEd admission this year, indicating the particularly strong interest among female aspirants. The applicant pool also included seven transgender candidates.A department official said the application process for Phase-I admissions closed on Sept 5, under which two selection rounds and a spot round were conducted. However, 26 seats remained vacant in some higher education institutions. “To ensure that the remaining seats are filled up and eligible candidates do not miss out on the opportunity for admission, another spot round would be conducted,” the official said.Applicants who had given their choice of preferences during Phase-I would be eligible for the fresh spot round. The institutions have prepared a fresh merit list of eligible candidates for remaining vacant seats, which would be published on Thursday.Admission against vacant seats would be conducted on Oct 6 and 7. The department has directed institutions to fill the seats strictly according to the prescribed eligibility criteria, merit and reservation provisions, with the fresh exercise limited to the actual vacancies in each institution.The official added that the move is aimed at ensuring that eligible candidates who could not secure a seat in the earlier rounds get another opportunity, while preventing the sanctioned BEd intake from remaining unutilised despite the exceptionally high demand for the course.