The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to conduct its
single entrance test for the MBA programmes next February
Based on CAT model, CMAT will curb stress. The All India Council
for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to conduct its single entrance test
for the MBA programmes next February.
Based on the CAT model, the Common Management
Admission Test (CMAT) would be an online test, to be conducted over 15 - 20 days.
AICTE chairman S. S. Mantha said the eligibility criteria for the test would be
similar to that of CAT, conducted by the 13 IIMs. Though the exact schedule will
be announced by next week, the test is expected to begin around February 10. The
three-hour examination - likely to be taken by nearly 2.5 lakh candidates - will
have multiple-choice questions to assess quantitative and data interpretation,
logical reasoning, general awareness and language comprehension.
The AICTE will make it mandatory for all the recognised institutes to admit students
only through CMAT in 2013. There are around 4,000 institutes offering MBA and another
500 offering AICTE-recognized management diploma.
"In 2013, we will make candidate selection mandatory through this test. We hope
that the MBA aspirants will then have to appear just for CAT and CMAT," Mantha said.
The chairman did not answer whether the Management Aptitude Test (MAT), which is
currently taken by over 3.5 lakh students and is the largest B-school entrance test,
would be abolished in 2013. "We will make it compulsory for our institutes to subscribe
to the CMAT score, but I can’t say anything on the fate of MAT right now. The matter
is still pending in the court," he added.
The CMAT has been announced with the intent of reducing the mental and
financial stress on the MBA aspirants. But the idea has not been well received by
many business schools and organisations like the Association of Indian Management
Schools (AIMS) and the Society for Promotion of Education in India, which challenged
the AICTE’s notification of December 28, 2010. The notification envisaged sweeping
changes in the way B-schools conduct their entrance tests and holding a single
entrance/aptitude test for the admissions. The Supreme Court order of July 26 this
year has already allowed private B-schools to continue with the practice of using
CAT, XAT, MAT, ATMA, and JMET (though now scrapped) exams for their admissions.
However, the matter is still sub judice.
Courtesy: Yahoo
