Maharashtra May Add Class 12 Marks to MHT-CET Merit List for B.Pharm Admissions

The proposed system would also apply to undergraduate engineering admissions, with the government planning to balance Class 12 results and MHT-CET performance in determining merit.

The state Higher and Technical Education Department issued an order on Thursday announcing the formation of a committee to formulate a policy on the proposed admission system. The committee will determine the exact weightage to be assigned to Class 12 marks and MHT-CET percentile and will recommend the academic year from which the revised system could be implemented.

The move comes following allegations surrounding the recently conducted MHT-CET, including alleged tampering of scores and large-scale leakage of student data. There were also instances in which students who had secured only 40-50% marks in their Class 12 board examinations reportedly obtained exceptionally high percentiles in MHT-CET. These instances triggered allegations of malpractice in the entrance examination.

The state government has ordered an investigation into the alleged irregularities. Examination centres against which complaints have been received will undergo forensic audits, and cases will be registered based on complaints raised by teachers.

As a long-term measure, the government is considering taking Class 12 marks into account while preparing the merit list for undergraduate pharmacy and engineering admissions, thereby reducing dependence on a single entrance examination. A senior official from the Higher and Technical Education Department said the objective is to maintain a balance between Class 12 examination results and CET performance and ensure that the method of determining merit rankings is more transparent, objective and equitable for candidates.

According to the government resolution issued on Thursday, the committee will determine the weightage to be given to Class 12 marks and the percentile obtained in the Common Entrance Test for the merit list to be prepared by the CET Cell for the admission process.

The five-member committee constituted to draft the new policy will be headed by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai, who is also the chairperson of the Maharashtra State Academic and Research Council (MahaSARC). The Vice-Chancellor of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere; the Vice-Chancellor of COEP Technological University, Pune; and the Director of the Directorate of Higher Education, Pune, will serve as members. The Director of the Directorate of Technical Education, Mumbai, will be the member-secretary of the committee.

The decision to reconsider the merit-list system followed a proposal submitted by the State Common Entrance Test Cell on September 2, seeking a review of the eligibility criteria for undergraduate engineering and pharmacy courses. According to an official with the CET, Class 12 board examination scores currently have no bearing on the admission process. As a result, students are increasingly prioritising entrance-test preparation, often at the expense of their board examinations.

The committee will therefore examine how Class 12 board examination performance and MHT-CET percentile should be combined for preparing the admission merit list. The exact weightage and the academic year from which the proposed system could be introduced will be decided under the new policy, reports Hindustan Times.