Common MCA test from 2004

Beginning 2004-05, there will be a single national test for admission to the masters in computer application course. The test will be conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

This means nearly 120,000 prospective MCA students will no longer have to take dozens of entrance tests. At present, there are 136-odd MCA entrance examinations conducted by various institutes.

"The problem students faced is the plethora of entrance tests conducted by various government and private institutes. State-level exams are not a problem because they are restricted to bona fide residents," a senior human resource development ministry official said.

There are around 1,006 unrecognised and recognised institutes in the country offering MCA courses at the national and state levels. The government has, however, accorded recognition to only 170.

The success ratio for admission to MCA programmes is much higher than that for MBAs. While one out of every five aspirants gets into a B-school, getting admission to an MCA course is not so tough. Around 60,000 MCA seats are available nationally, while the number of applicants are double.

Some of the top universities that conduct separate MCA entrance tests are Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Pune and Jadavpur.

Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa have combined tests for institutes in the states.

The decision to have a common test for MCA and MBA was taken by the human resources development ministry in October. Two high-level committees were set up to prepare the guidelines for the tests.

"The committee will take a decision on the matter after the first entrance test," the official said.

The committee consists of the AICTE chairman, UGC chairman, top ministry officials and chairmen of some top institutes offering MCA.