From 2016, Maharashtra will use CET for engineering admissions

The state government has said it will not take part in the joint entrance exam (JEE) for engineering admissions from 2016, and instead use the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET), as it did till 2013.

State higher and technical education minister Vinod Tawde on Friday announced Maharashtra will not participate in the national-level JEE (Main).

“This will reduce burden on students, as they will not have to study Class 11 and 12 syllabus, as required for the JEE. Further, JEE is held just two weeks after the Class 12 state board exams, so students do not get enough time to prepare and coaching classes have taken advantage of this to make money,” Tawde said, during an event at Parle Tilak School, Vile Parle. Tawde said he will recommend this to the Directorate of Technical Education, which monitors engineering admissions.

Along with MH-CET scores, the aspirants’ Class 12 marks will be also considered for admission to engineering colleges in the state.

Till 2013, the state used the CET for admissions to undergraduate engineering courses. From April 2014, JEE (Main) was considered. That year, more than 2.45 lakh candidates from the state appeared for the joint test. This year, 13.035 lakh students have registered across India.

“The state needs to simplify entrance exams for medical and engineering candidates. Many states have not yet adopted the JEE (Main). The MH-CET will let students focus on Class 12 state board syllabus,” said GT Thampi, principal, Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Bandra.

In the winter session of the Assembly, Tawde had presented data showing the state has 367 engineering colleges, with 1,56,067 seats. Of these, 67,184 were unfilled in the 2014-15 academic year.

Earlier this week, Tawde had announced that CET for medical college admissions will be based on the state board syllabus. Last year, the test was based on syllabus of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).