Mumbai University postpones entrance test for new IDOL course, lands in row

University of Mumbai administration has said the exam has only been postponed and a new date will be announced soon. File pic

A controversy started as University of Mumbai postponed the entrance exam for Masters of Management Studies (MMS) course for the distance education mode at the last minute. The varsity cited technical glitch as the reason and said an alternative date would be announced soon. However, senate members alleged approval issues for the course which was introduced as part of MU's distance education wing - Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL) - this year. Around 500 students, who had applied for the course, are now left in lurch.

MU had recently announced the introduction of two popular courses - MMS and MCA - for IDOL and the entrance exam for both were scheduled on December 5. The test for the MMS course was declared cancelled just three days before the scheduled date, allegedly due to technical glitch, however that of the MCA course was held.

"If there were technical issues, ideally both entrance tests should have been cancelled or postponed. So, why was only one course's entrance test cancelled? This raises suspicion. Does it mean that varsity does not have all the permissions to begin this course in distance mode yet but hurriedly arranged the admissions procedure," asked Vaibhav Thorat, Mumbai University Senate member.

Thorat said this reflects poorly on the good grade that MU received recently in NAAC accreditation. "Availability of the said course in distance mode is an opportunity for many looking to upgrade their education. No wonder in the first year itself it has over 500 applications. The varsity cannot be callous about it," he continued.

There have been allegations that MU is currently in the process of clarifying some points raised by the UGC on the nomenclature of the said course, which has led to the test being postponed. "MU shouldn't have scheduled the entrance test for students if there were certain clarifications that are still pending. This makes one wonder if it really has complete approval," said Thorat.

However, the MU administration has clarified that it has complete permission from UGC as well as AICTE to offer this course in the distance mode. When contacted, IDOL Public Relations Officer Vinod Malale said, "The test is postponed, and not cancelled, due to technical reasons. A new date will be announced soon. Students need not worry."

Convocation postponed as well

In another case of last-minute cancellations by MU, the annual convocation scheduled for Friday has been postponed. The MU circular stated, "The Annual Convocation 2021 scheduled to be held on December 10, 2021, has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances. The new date will be communicated to you shortly." There has been a lot of speculation in the varsity about the reason. One is the travel history of MU Vice-Chancellor Suhas Pednekar who has recently returned from the US and is in quarantine as per the new guidelines. Another is the death of CDS General Bipin Rawat. The university is tight-lipped about the reason behind the move.

5 Dec
Day when the test was scheduled