MathangSeshagiri&HemaliChhapia, TNN | Aug 17, 2011, 04.56AM IST
(Source The Times Of India)
MUMBAI: In a move that will cut down the multiple entrance exams thatstudents are forced to take for admission to management courses across thecountry, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decidedto conduct a common admission test from 2012-13. The test will cover
admissions to both MBA and postgraduate diploma in management.
The decision to hold a pan-India Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)was taken at the recent executive council meeting of the AICTE, theumbrella body for professional courses. While CMAT will be one of theentrance exams to be held in 2012, the Council wants all its colleges andinstitutes to admit students based on their CMAT scores from 2013.
"Almost every college was holding an entrance exam. Moreover, each statehas its own entrance tests, and private associations have their ownexams," AICTE chairman S SMantha said. "In principle, CMAT will be a testfor all AICTE-approved institutes and will reduce the stress and financialburden on students."
However, the Indian Institutes of Management, which are independent andautonomous B-schools, will continue to conduct the CAT (common admissiontest). Deemed universities will also hold their individual entrance tests.
But admission to 4,000 colleges that offer an MBA and another 500 whichrun diploma programmes will take place on the basis of the CMAT.
"We still have to work out the modalities of conducting the CMAT. Buthaving so many exams, all of varied difficulty levels, also raisesconcerns about the quality of students who enter this professional
course," Mantha added. It is for the first time that the AICTE has spokenabout holding an entrance exam; to date, it has largely been anapproval-seeking body for new colleges and institutes wanting to expand
student intake.
The Management Aptitude Test, which is taken by 3.85 lakh students everyyear, is currently the largest B-school entrance test. Hari Krishna Maram,governing council member of AIMA which conducts MAT, said "I welcome theidea of a single entrance exam for management courses in the interest ofstudents. The government has been talking about it for quite sometime, butthe idea hasn`t taken off. I do not know if a single exam will work sincedifferent universities have different admission schedules. MAT, on theother hand, is conducted four times a year and this helps students to takethe exam whenever they are free."
