JOIN USThe Karnataka Management Aptitude Test (KMAT), the gateway for entry into over 200 colleges offering MBA and MCA courses in the State, is all set to become a pan-India examination on the lines of the Common Admission Test (CAT) and Common Management Aptitude Test (CMAT).
The initiative is aimed at boosting admissions to these courses, which have been on the decline over the years and also to turn Karnataka into a favourite destination for pursuing MBA and MCA courses. The Karnataka Private Post Graduate Colleges’ Association (KPPGCA), which conducts the test, has already hired a consultant and a number of best practices of various national level tests are being suggested to be incorporated into the new KMAT format.
For example, entrance tests such as the CAT and the Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) have conveners who are the representatives for the test. In a similar manner, KMAT may also soon have its own convener. Other practices such as holding the test over a period of 30 days rather than just one day, making the test paper pencil-based or an online test, letting aspirants access sample question papers of previous year’s test - are some of the suggestions that are being made.
According to Amit Agnihothri, Chairman, MBAUniversive.com, a portal for MBA preparation, the CAT saw over two lakh registrations last year. Similarly, around 70,000 students had registered for the CMAT.
Even private MBA entrance tests such as the Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test (NMAT) saw as many as 54,000 registrations. Agnihotri is being consulted by the KPGCA on a plan of action to popularise the KMAT on a national scale.
With KMAT, however, it has been a different scenario. “The KMAT registrations have never crossed 15,000. Even the government seats that are subsidised are hardly filled,” said M Prakash, secretary, KPPGCA.
“The government has given us oral permission to hold the test outside the State and we will work on making the test a pan India one from this year itself. From next year onwards, we are planning to hold the test twice a year,” Prakash added.
Bharat Lal Meena, Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, was unavailable for comment.