There are no plans to provide question banks or conduct mock tests for the optional Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to Class 11 First Year Junior College (FYJC), said a senior official of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE). Students of schools affiliated to private boards are anxious as the exam will be based on the Class 10 syllabus of the state board. In the absence of any question banks, these students are preparing for the exam to be conducted on August 21, by seeking help from their teachers and tutors.
As the application process is currently going on at cet.11thadmission.org.in, the MSBSHSE said they do not have any plans on releasing question banks or conducting mock tests. A senior official of the board said, "We have already released the syllabus and topics for the CET. We do not have any plans as of now to provide question banks or conduct practice exams. Students need not worry as the CET will be based on basic concepts."
Students are apprehensive about the exam because it is the first time an entrance exam will be conducted for admission to Class 11 (FYJC). Manasi Kedar, a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 student, said, "I am seeking help from my teachers to understand and revise concepts of Class 10 state-board syllabus for the CET. I do not want to take any risk because my admission to Class 11 will be based on the CET score."
In order to ease the burden on students of private boards, the Bombay High Court (HC) has asked the state board to consider setting a common question paper for the CET which would include questions from syllabus from all the other boards as well. The state board is yet to respond.
Anshu Jain, a Class 10 ICSE student said, "The concepts laid out by the state-board for CET have been covered in ICSE syllabus. But since it is the first time that we will appear for an entrance exam, I do not want to take any risk. I have started private tutoring for this exam because I do not want my scores to dip. Most entrance exams have practice question papers or mock tests but the Maharashtra state board has not given any information yet."
Mitaksh Parekh, a Class 10 SSC student said, "I have started preparing for CET every day because I do not want to lose the opportunity to secure a seat in a well-known junior college of my choice. Also, I have lost the practice of appearing for exams because our past exams were either cancelled or conducted via online mode due to Covid-19. It is a bit of risk because there will be no re-examination after the CET so I want to give my best shot."
