Mumbai considers holding major common entrance tests (CETs) twice a year

MUMBAI: The state govt is considering the possibility of holding major common entrance tests (CETs), such as the MHT-CET, for admissions to engineering, pharmacy, and agricultural courses, at least twice a year for the convenience of students.

The idea is to provide the students an opportunity to improve their scores and rely on more than a single-day exam, said a source. With the computer-based test (CBT) spanning multiple days and the large volume of students taking CETs in the state, the higher and technical education department will need to study the feasibility of conducting the exercise more than once every year.A govt representative stated that there is too much reliance on a single-day test, which can be unfair for various reasons.

A student might be unwell, under immense pressure, or face an unexpected issue that day. "If something goes wrong, they risk losing an entire academic year. We, therefore, want to see if we can offer students more than one attempt.

However, conducting the CET is a massive exercise that spans several days, and we need exam centres for nearly a month. So, giving students more than one attempt could be challenging, but we are figuring out the logistics.

It is at the discussion stage," said the representative, adding that they hope the number of students may decline towards the later attempts. The department is also trying to bring in more transparency in the way the CET is conducted for professional courses. For instance, the govt is planning to involve aided colleges to act as exam centres. Meanwhile, the higher and technical education department is planning to hold a one-day national-level conference with testing agencies such as the National Testing Agency for sharing and understanding the best practices in holding entrance exams in a student-friendly manner.