In line with the implementation of NEP 2020 for the academic year 2024-25, SVKM's Mithibai College situated in Vile Parle has officially announced that the college will not conduct an entrance exam for the upcoming academic year
The official notice released by the college on February 2, 2024, reads, "Admission for first-year degree college programs will be based on XII Std. marks only." SVKM's Mithibai College until last year used to admit students based on the CUET entrance exam.
Which Courses Are Included In This Development?
According to the notification, this development will apply to First-year courses including Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Multimedia & Mass Communication (BAMMC), Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), Bachelor of Commerce Management & Finance (BMF), Bachelor of Commerce Accounting & Finance (BAF), Bachelor of Commerce Financial Markets (BFM), Bachelor of Commerce Banking & Insurance (BBI), Bachelor of Science (Psychology), Bachelor of Science (Applied Statistics and Data Analytics), Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology), and Bachelor of Science (Computer Science).
"Last year, students appeared for the exam during COVID-19 and it was hard for us to map their potential and other aspects for admission hence the entrance exam, now that the students have settled in, so there is no need for the entrance exam, " Kruthika Desai, Principal of SVKM's Mithibai College, told Free Press Journal (FPJ).
Further highlighting the reason for the development, she shared, "We don't want to give stress to our students, the students are complaining about the stress so we thought let's try this method to lessen the burden of stress."
Principal Assures Transparency In Admissions
Desai also assured students that the process of admission will be transparent and merit-based. She said, "Everything is system driven and complete transparency is maintained. Everything happens online and a merit list is generated based on that data, then later on we verify the information provided by them. Merit list is not the confirmation of admission, it is a list to confirm the details and there are various categories to consider during the admission process."
She further expressed confidence in an increased number of applications for admission to the college in the upcoming academic year.
Students React To The Elimination
Additionally, The FPJ also talked to Class 12 students who wish to pursue admission to Mithibai College for their Bachelor courses to note their thoughts on the development.
Parushni Jathar, a Class 12 student at K.C. College (Churchgate) aspiring to pursue law shared her opinion on SVKM's Mithibai's decision and said, "According to me, admissions should be done based on Class 12 percentage as not everyone can afford the entrance exam fees and it is not accessible to everyone in general."
She elaborated on the pressure brought on by the entrance exam, asserting that the culture surrounding it has turned toxic, leading to excessive and unwarranted stress for students.
On the contrary, Parth Barhate, a Class 12 student at Pankaj Global Public International (Chopda) who aspires to pursue the science course at SVKM's Mithibai expressed, "I believe that admitting students based solely on their 12th board exam scores would be unfair. In my opinion, entrance exams offer a more equitable means of identifying worthy candidates for a particular course."
Moreover, other Mumbai colleges including Sophia College for Women (Grant Road), Thakur College of Science and Commerce (Kandivali East), KES Shroff College (Kandivali West), amongst others also provide admissions based on marks obtained in Class 12 Board exams for the majority of their courses as confirmed by the FPJ.
