Controversy about the FYJC Common Entrance Test (CET) 2021 is making the rounds as the Bombay High Court going to have a session tomorrow, August 06, 2021, regarding the matter. However, students have continued to bombard twitter with demands for the cancellation of the entrance exams. They are also asking the Maharashtra Board authorities to provide a quick solution rather than keeping students wait, without any firm verdict. Already, the Bombay HC asked central boards like CBSE, ICSE and IGCSE to submit a question bank of 200 questions to the Maharashtra education board. This is to help the state conduct a single test paper-based CET for admission to First Year Junior College (FYJC).
As of now, the Maharashtra FYJC CET 2021 examination is going to be held on August 21, 2021. The Bombay HC bench comprising of Justices RD Dhanuka and Riyaz Chagla asked other boards for a question bank based on the state syllabus. Previously, the HC had also asked the state board to consider the plausibility of setting a common test paper for the CET exam.
Conduction of the Maharashtra FYJC CET 2021 is problematic due to two reasons – 1. It is being conducted under “exceptional” circumstances as no board exams were conducted this year and 2. It is being held in August 2021, further delaying the 2021-22 admission process.
The second point was reiterated by a reputed educationist and mentor Francis Joseph. According to Mr Joseph, Class 11 students in central boards have already begun their academics. Hence, an “inclusive” solution is required to not cause any further delay in the upcoming academic year. Just like 2020, students this year are already going to face the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adv. Anubha Shrivastava Sahai also commented on this matter by highlighting that no other state is conducting a CET for Class 11 admissions. An entrance exam at this stage will lead to a considerable delay in the new academic session. Various students seconded her opinion by replying to her tweet. Here is what students had to say:
During the court hearing, Maharashtra Board appealed to the other boards to provide a maximum of 200 questions. These questions shall be examined later. Further clarity on the FYJC CET 2021 examination was also provided. Accordingly, the entrance exam would comprise of seven groups of 25 marks each.
Out of the seven groups, four would contain questions based on SSC board subjects like Maths, Science, Social Science and English. The remaining three groups shall contain questions from other boards. Students are going to have a choice here, as they can attempt any four out of the seven groups i.e., 100 out of 175 questions.
According to official reports, approximately 10 lakh students have already registered for the FYJC CET 2021 examination. A few thousand students from other education boards have also applied. During the court session, the state board informed that if the entrance exam is delayed further, the admission process will end in October 2021 and then it will further delay the new academic session. During the HC hearing, it was observed that other boards were not in support of Maharashtra’s decision. Therefore, a final hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
