MUMBAI: From next academic year (2023-24), entry to undergraduate professional courses in Maharashtra will be based on both Class XII scores and CET marks; they will be given equal weightage. That apart, changes such as a minimum cut-off in CET are in the offing, reports Hemali Chhapia.
While the decision has been approved in principle, the state is yet to declare how it would bring parity between Class XII scores of students across various boards. What is also unclear is whether the overall score of all subjects would be considered or just marks in sciences and math, as all boards do not have the same number of subjects at Class XII level.
Additionally, there's a possibility of the state CET being held multiple times a year like JEE (Main), allowing candidates to better their scores without wasting a year.
State to streamline CET schedule from next year
The state will streamline the schedule of entrance tests for undergraduate professional programmes from next year. The CET results will be declared on July 1 and the academic year will kickstart on September 1.
Among various changes, the state has decided to give equal weightage to class XII scores and CET marks. Higher and technical education minister Uday Samant told TOI: "Students are (currently) not attending class XII lectures as they are busy preparing only for CET. Today, students are merely getting one mark in CET and joining engineering programmes. We are overhauling the entire admission process for the next year and a detailed policy on the same will be ready soon." He held a meeting with officials and other ministers including finance minister Ajit Pawar before drawing up this policy.
This is not the first time that the state has come up with this idea. In 2004, when Dilip Walse-Patil was the higher and technical education minister, the state had mooted a similar proposal. However, the Bombay high court struck it down, recalled former DTE director NB Pasalkar. "However, without placing weightage on class XII marks, we find that students don't even want to attend lectures, let alone pay attention. The state needs to draw up a bill to this effect if class XII marks have to be given 50% weightage," added Pasalkar.
The admission process remains unchanged for the current year and all entry will be based only on the CET scores. The PCM group exam for MHT CET Exam 2022 will be held from 5 to 11 August, 2022. The PCB Group exam will be held from August 12 to 20, 2022.
