Mumbai is mulling conducting big common entrance tests (CETs) bi-annually

The state government is mulling conducting major common entrance tests (CETs), including the MHT-CET, for engineering, pharmacy, and agricultural courses admissions at least twice a year for the students' convenience.

The concept is to give the students a chance to enhance their marks and depend on something other than a one-day exam, the source stated. With CBT extended over several days and the size of the number of students appearing for CETs in the state, the higher and technical education department will have to research the viability of holding the exercise more than once a year.

A government official said that there is too much dependence on a one-day test, which can be unjust for a number of reasons. A student may not be well, be under tremendous pressure, or encounter an unexpected problem that day. "If anything goes wrong, they stand to lose a whole academic year. We therefore want to know if we can provide students with more than a single opportunity.".

But we have to carry out the CET, which is a huge exercise that takes several days, and we require exam centres for almost a month. Hence, providing multiple chances to students might prove to be difficult, but we are working on the modalities. It is in the discussion phase," the representative added, hoping that the number of students might reduce with the subsequent attempts.

The department is also attempting to introduce more transparency in how the CET is conducted for professional courses. For example, the govt is going to engage aided colleges to work as exam centers.

At the same time, the technical and higher education department is organizing a one-day national-level conference with testing organizations like the National Testing Agency for exchanging and comprehending the best practices in conducting entrance examinations in a student-friendly way.