Maharashtra discontinues MH-CET and switches to JEE from 2014-15

The state of Maharashtra has agreed to accept the scores of JEE Main to select engineering candidates for its tech schools. Earlier, Maharashtra used to conduct its own MH-CET i.e. common entrance test to admit candidates into the engineering courses. But, according to an ordinance issued by the Directorate of Technical Education Maharashtra State, admissions to various undergraduate courses of engineering within the state would be made on the basis of the scores of paper 1 of JEE Main from the academic year 2014-15.

The state cabinet also confirmed that the curriculum of standard 12 has been upgraded to meet the standard of JEE. A state level JEE is an expensive affair which requires a large amount of funds and resources. Joining a national level entrance like JEE would reduce the burden of the state. This will also prove beneficial for students as a single entrance exam would suffice for IITs too.           

As proposed by the department of Higher & Technical Education, the merit list for engineering admissions to the state would be prepared on the basis of scores of JEE as well as boards. 50% weightage would be given to the marks scored in Physics, chemistry and mathematics in the board exams and the remaining 50% to the JEE Main scores.

IIT JEE is a national level entrance exam that is conducted in two stages- JEE Main and JEE Advanced. JEE Advanced is for admission into the elite IITs and those who secure a rank among the top 1.5 lakh ranks of JEE Main are eligible to take the JEE Advanced. For JEE Main, maximum number of attempts a student can make is 3. For institutions in the state of Maharashtra (other than IITs, NITs, IIITs, and CFTIs), it will remain the same as per the past practices of the state-level exams they have been conducting. The age limit for admission to these institutes will also continue to be same. This will however not hold valid for admission to IITs/NITs/IIITs/CFTIs. In order to succor the new states, the question paper of JEE Main will also be made available in various languages like Gujarati, Marathi and Urdu in addition to English and Hindi.

Content Courtesy: askIITians.com