MBA candidates Confused in GCET or national aptitude test?
Lakhs of MBA aspirants across the Gujrat state are in a quandary, thanks to the lack of clarity on whether they will have to take Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GCET) or the all-India common management aptitude test made compulsory by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The state education department has not yet made its stand clear on whether these graduates will have to take GCET or not. If the authorities do not clarify, students will have to take the burden of both the tests.
On one hand, there is no clarity and on the other, the process for filling up forms for the national aptitude test has already started. This test will be conducted from February 20 to February 28. This is much in advance compared to GCET, which is held in May or June.
This year, 23,760 students took GCET for 13,465 seats across 140 MBA colleges in the state. However, 3,500 seats remained vacant. Recently, in a bid to fill up these seats, the education department allowed admissions to these colleges even if the student has not appeared for GCET.
When asked, officials of Gujarat Technological University (GTU), which is responsible for conducing GCET as well as the admissions, said that this is a policy matter and only the state education department can reply to it. In the last three years, MBA colleges have mushroomed across Gujarat, resulting in huge number of seats remaining vacant. The problem is more acute where such management institutes have come up in rural areas as students do not prefer admissions there due to lack of proper teaching staff.
Moreover, there is no clarity on how the admissions for Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) will be held, as so far, the admissions to MCA colleges is done only through GCET.