KU issues MBA admission notice afresh, adds entrance test rider

Srinagar, Nov 20: The authorities at University of Kashmir (KU) on Wednesday issued a new notification for admission to the MBA programme, a day after this newspaper reported about the violation of the admission policy by the varsity.

The new notification added the rider of ‘entrance test’ for admission to the MBA programme offered at KU’s South Campus and other affiliated colleges of the University.

The admission notification issued on Tuesday had fixed the mode of selection on the basis of “academic percentage in the qualifying examination” and had skipped the mention of any entrance examination or CMAT score for the selections.

“The eligible candidates shall have to appear in the entrance test at their own expenses at the University specified centers for which the date shall be notified separately,” the new notification issued by Director Admissions reads. However, it said, “If the number of candidates applying for the programme is less than the number of seats available, then in such case the selection shall be made on the basis of academic merit.”

Interestingly, the Directorate of Admissions issued the new notification on November 20 of 2024, while keeping the last date for submission of online applications same i.e. November 20 of 2024.

The Directorate deleted the old admission notice issued on November 18 of 2024 rather than issuing a ‘corrigendum’ for the same as per a standard official practice.

A top official said the Directorate of Admissions was supposed to stick to the University’s own Admission Policy of selecting candidates for MBA on the basis of CMAT score, as is the case with other management institutions in the country.

“Adding the entrance test rider, and not CMAT score, is again wrong. However, instead of saying that if the number of candidates applying for the programme is less than the number of seats available, then in such case the selection shall be made on the basis of academic merit, it was appropriate for the Directorate to say that no admissions shall be made on the basis of academic score even if the seats would remain vacant after the entrance test," the official said.

On Tuesday, Director Admissions KU, Prof Farooq Ahmad Mir, had justified the decision of making selections on the basis of academic merit, saying “VC was authorized to do so.”

However, management experts said that no University authority or body is empowered to make such a change in the admission criteria.

“CMAT has to be the only criteria for mode of selection to any MBA programme offered in the University or its affiliated colleges,” they said.

The experts said that the University’s own Admission Policy-2024 categorically stated that CMAT shall form the basis for admissions to MBA programmes.

Furthermore, sources said it was unprecedented to ask students to appear in the entrance test "at their own expense" after seeking charges for submission of online applications.