Delayed admissions worry Mumbai colleges, many want BMS out of AICTE ambit | Mumbai News
Mumbai: After completing two admission cycles, several city colleges that shifted to the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms to run the popular BMS programme, now want to move away from the central regulation. Many plan to split their BMS divisions, one continuing under AICTE and the other shifting to the university control with a change in nomenclature, for effective management. Delayed admissions have led to poor demand among students, disruption of the academic calendar, and higher vacancies, despite the programme’s popularity.In 2024, AICTE brought the BMS programme under the ‘professional’ category, along with BCA and BBA. While some colleges chose to follow AICTE norms, others opted to remain under the university by renaming the course as BCom (Management Studies).
As a professional course, admissions to BMS were conducted through the CET cell and were concluding by October end for the last two years, causing administrative hurdles for colleges that shifted to AICTE.A few colleges exercised their autonomy even this year and offered the same programme in two different formats, one under university as BCom (Management Studies) and the other under AICTE regulation as BMS. Others are planning to do so in the coming year. Colleges such as Matunga’s Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Lala Lajpat Rai College at Mahalaxmi, and KES’ Shroff have already split their divisions, and others like NM and Mithibai colleges are planning to do it next year. HSNC University has been conducting its own CET too, in addition to the state CET.NM and Mithibai, under the SVKM Group, are planning to run one division for BMS under the AICTE and the other as BCom (Management Studies). “Due to delayed admissions, classes for BMS begin only in October, while all other programmes commenced in June. This is not only creating administrative hurdles but is also resulting in the loss of students, many of whom are settled in other programmes as an entire semester is effectively lost,” said N M College principal Parag Ajgaonkar.Another course coordinator pointed out that many seats are going vacant in the programme, as fewer students wait till October end for admissions. These seats remain vacant for all three years, leading to a loss in revenue for a course, which is otherwise popular among students, he said, adding that they split their divisions too. “Colleges are keen to run under AICTE regulation, but the delays are making it difficult,” said the coordinator. Admissions are getting delayed due to lack of awareness about the CET and state conducting the test twice to accommodate students.
