In Maharashtra, tepid response to entrance test for BMS, BBA, BCA yet again

Mumbai: For the third year in a row, the common entrance test (CET) for BBA, BMS, and BCA has received a lukewarm response from students. For the over one lakh seats available in state colleges, less than 70,000 aspirants have registered so far. The registration deadline has already been extended thrice, with Wednesday now set as the final date.A CET cell official said that this year, they will not conduct an additional CET.Once a popular choice in Mumbai University-affiliated colleges, the BMS programme has lost its sheen following regulatory changes that forced many colleges to change its nomenclature to BCom (Management Studies), said college principals. For the 2024-25 academic session, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) brought these courses under its ambit, classifying them as professional programmes. Since professional courses are regulated by the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional (Regulation of admission and fees) Colleges Act, the state decided to conduct a CET for them.For the past two years, the state has conducted the entrance test twice to accommodate students who missed the first CET. This, however, has delayed admissions until October, when most colleges have already completed their first semester. Not only fewer students wait for the process to conclude, but the delay also disrupts colleges' academic calendar. Last year, to top the poor response in registrations, over 60% seats in all three courses put together were vacant. "While classes for other courses start in June-July, this one started in October, disrupting our calendar. Teachers have to teach throughout the vacation period," said a principal."By the time admission concluded in October, almost six months after the class XII results, students had already settled in courses they had opted for in June-July. There are also a lot of university-regulated courses that are now on offer and are becoming popular. Additionally, many colleges decided to change the nomenclature from Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) to BCom (Management Studies) to avoid AICTE regulation, but they offer almost the same curriculum," said another principal.Several colleges affiliated to MU, which had earlier decided to go with the AICTE regulation, have now decided to split their divisions into two — one under the university as BCom (Management Studies) and other under AICTE as BMS — to ensure they do not lose out on high-scoring students due to delayed admissions. A teacher said that earlier their BMS admissions closed with students scoring over 90-95% scores in class XII. Now, though students have higher CET scores, their class XII scores are on the lower side, added the teacher.