AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government has decided to follow the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms regarding MCA admissions this year. According to the AICTE norms, candidates from the general stream should have at least 50% marks, while reserved category students should have 45% marks.

The admission process for MCA and MBA courses begins in the last week of June. The notification for admission in the MBA stream has already been issued. The merit list will be prepared taking the Common Management Aptitude Test (CMAT) exam results into account.

There are 132 colleges in Gujarat offering MBA courses with 12,000 seats and about 78 colleges offering MCA courses with 7,800 seats. Last year, very few candidates had applied for MBA courses. Out of the 12,000, seats 5,539 seats went vacant. This has already forced four colleges in Saurashtra region to close down the courses they were offering. Similarly, 2,118 seats went vacant in MCA courses last year. Moreover, last year some 28,000 students appeared for the CMAT exam compared to this year's count of 18,000 students.

The move of putting a cut-off limit on MCA courses will lead to a further drop in the number of students applying and getting admission. The 50% benchmark was already present for MBA admissions. Sources in the admission committee said the reason behind making the 50% barrier mandatory was to improve the quality of students who make the courses.

Online registration for architecture courses has begun and will go on for five more days. To date, 281 students have registered seeking admission to the courses. There are 16 colleges with 1200 seats offering the degree course.

Source:  The Indian Express