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MH-CET 2019: 5% dip in aspirants for Maharashtra’s entrance test for engineering, agriculture and pharmacy
MH-CET 2019: Number of aspirants registering for the Maharahtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) this year, for undergraduate engineering, pharmacy and agriculture courses, has dropped to 4.13 lakh from last year’s 4.36 lakh — a dip of 5%.
Number of aspirants registering for the Maharahtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) this year, for undergraduate engineering, pharmacy and agriculture courses, has dropped to 4.13 lakh from last year’s 4.36 lakh — a dip of 5%.
According to experts, the dip in registration is an indicator of dwindling popularity of science courses, especially engineering. “Students are looking for avenues other than engineering,” said Subhash Joshi, trustee, Science Parivar.
Joshi said that while many students are opting out of engineering owing to lack of employment opportunities, the inclusion of Class 11 curriculum in the test is also to be blamed for low registrations. “The students find it difficult to cope up with the exhaustive curriculum of the test, which covers not only the Class 12 syllabus but also 50% of Class 11 syllabus,” he said.
Until 2017, the exam focused only on the Class 12 syllabus. Last year, the state directorate of technical education (DTE) decided that around 20% of questions in the test will be drawn from Class 11 curriculum.
On the other hand, Pharmacy courses had witnessed a surge in popularity — 64,186 students registered for undergraduate pharmacy courses this year. It’s a 24% increase compared to 2017-18, when 52,014 students had applied. The number of applicants for seven ‘technical’ undergraduate (UG) agriculture courses has jumped to 64,619 in 2018-19 from 51,822 in 2017-18 — an increase of 25%.
Last year, around 1.06 lakh students registered for the centralised admission process for undergraduate engineering courses. A year before, the state had received 1.19 lakh applications - 11%, more than last year.
In a first, MHT-CET will likely be held over 12 days and in two time slots daily, between May 2 and 13. Students will be able to choose a day and slot for the test according to their convenience. Also for the first time, the examination will be conducted online.
