KEA to conduct PGCET this year

Test to be conducted by month-end

The Higher education department has decided to entrust the responsibility of conducting the Post Graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET) for entry into government quota MBA and MCA courses this year, soley to the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA).

Last year, a consortium headed by Rani Chennamma University, Belagavi conducted the test.

According to sources, a government order in this regard has already been issued and the examination will be conducted either by the end of this month or early next month.
Confirming the news, KEA executive director, Sushama Godbole said the order from the government had already been received by the department: “As of now, we are not sure when exactly the PGCET will be held as the tentative dates are being prepared. It will most likely be somewhere around the end of June or July,” she said.

Flip-flop
The government has been doing a flip-flop on a number of fronts with regards to MBA and MCA admissions in the State for the past two years. From making the All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) national test, the Common Management Admission Test or CMAT as the only gateway to such courses in the State in 2013 to going back on the PGCET in 2014 albeit conducted by the consortium.

Prior to this, the test used to be conducted by the KEA and before it, the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) conducted the test.

Sources, part of the consortium last year, point a few possible reasons for the government asking the KEA to conduct the examination this year.

“Last year it was noticed that a number of students were confused and thought that since Rani Chennamma University was conducting the test, it was only for MBA course under it. Also, it was not at all convenient with the University being located in Belagavi.
There were a number of complaints. This was in addition to the confusion that was prevalent because of the CMAT,” said an official who was a part of the consortium last year.

However, a point to note would be the increase in the number of registrations for the test in 2014 as compared to 2013.

As many as 3,600 students registered in 2013 and this rose to 17,906 in 2014.