If figures are a testament of popularity, then the future of engineering courses does not look bright.
The number of engineering aspirants who registered for Maharashtra-Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) dropped to 4,13,284 in 2019 from 4,35,606 in 2018 — a difference of 22,322. To make matters worse, 27,000 applicants skipped the exam despite registering. As per figures released by MH-CET Cell on Monday, 3.92 lakh aspirants took the test this year as compared to 4.19 lakh in 2018.
“A dip in registration this year can be attributed to various reasons. One of them is the change of exam format from pen- and- paper to online, which was held at 130 centres across Maharashtra and lasted for 10 days,” said Anand Rayate, commissioner, MH-CET cell.
Experts said declaration of JEE- Main results by the time MH- CET was conducted might have prodded several applicants to skip the state-level test.
“Most engineering aspirants register for various entrance exams. If aspirants do well in JEE-Main, they skip MH-CET,” said Vinay Kumar, MD and CEO of Rao Academy, a coaching institute.
He added that every year several medical aspirants also register for engineering entrance exams as back-up. “Even these applicants skip MH-CET if they score well in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET),” Rao said.
In addition, this was the first time the difficulty- level of MH-CET was at par with JEE-Main. In a previous report, HT had written about students finding MH-CET lengthy and difficult.
{{/usCountry}}In addition, this was the first time the difficulty- level of MH-CET was at par with JEE-Main. In a previous report, HT had written about students finding MH-CET lengthy and difficult.
{{/usCountry}}“We are following orders issued by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for elevating the exam [MH-CET] standards to all-India level. However, we ensured that questions asked were from the current syllabus,” said a senior official MH-CET cell.