22,322 drop in registrations for engg MH-CET; 27,000 skip test
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 over 10 days. ANAND RAYATE, commissioner, MH-CET Cell
MUMBAI: If figures are a testament to popularity, then the future of engineering does not look promising.
This year, the number of engineering aspirants who registered for Maharashtra-common Entrance Test (MH-CET) dropped to 4,13,284 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 engineering aspirants took the test this year as compared to 4.19 lakh in 2018.
The number of aspirants registering for MH-CET has dwindled over the years.
“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 over 10 days,” said Anand Rayate, commissioner, MH-CET cell.
Experts said the 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 a backup. “Even these applicants skip MH-CET if they score well in the National Eligibility-cum-entrance Test (NEET),” Rao said.
Moreover, this was the first time the difficulty-level of MH-CET was at par with JEEMAIN. In an earlier report, HT had written about students finding the MH-CET lengthy and difficult. “We are following orders issued by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for elevating the exam [MH-CET] standards to an all-india level. However, we ensured that questions asked were from the current syllabus,” said a senior official from the MH-CET cell.