Decision on Maharashtra CET under consideration, exam likely to be based on state board syllabi

The state education department, which is planning to conduct a common entrance test (CET) for admissions to non-professional undergraduate courses, like BA, BCom, and BSc, may consider the state board’s higher secondary syllabi for the examination.

Class XII examinations have been cancelled across educational boards in view of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the procedure for admissions to first-year undergraduate courses seems to be on the top of the mind of anxious students and parents.

While the Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Board said it was considering various possibilities for admissions, state Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant on Saturday said a state-level committee has been formed in Maharashtra to check if there’s a possibility of conducting a CET for admission to non-professional undergraduate (UG) courses.

“If (the CET is) conducted (for undergraduate admissions), the syllabus would be the state board pattern. Currently, there are several boards and each has its own syllabus, pattern. Private universities and autonomous institutes conduct their admissions according to their procedure. It is not possible to bring everyone on one platform and establish complete parity. We do not have that kind of time, so I won’t make impractical announcements,” Samant said Saturday.

The high-level committee, comprising vice-chancellors of state universities, education experts, officials of the higher and technical education department, has now been tasked to work out modalities like feasibility of conducting the CET, its syllabus if it is to be conducted at state or division level or by universities.

After the cancellation of class X exams, while the CBSE and CICSE affiliated schools said they would go ahead with class XI admissions based on internal screening tests, junior colleges affiliated to the state board were told to halt admissions pending announcement of a uniform procedure. The school education department had announced that a CET would be conducted for class XI admissions, which would be based on the state board syllabus. Following this, several CBSE and ICSE students had express reservations, citing a considerable difference in the syllabi.

– Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.