Percentile system sparks row

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Mumbai: Following closely on the heels of national testing scandals, Maharashtra’s own engineering and pharmacy entrance test, the MHT-CET, finds itself mired in a deepening controversy. Serious allegations of malpractices and result manipulation have surfaced, raising critical questions about the transparency of the examination process.

At the heart of the storm is a glaring discrepancy that has left students, parents, and political leaders baffled: candidates who barely managed passing marks in their state board examinations have inexplicably secured near-perfect percentiles in the highly competitive MHT-CET.

The controversy stems from a fundamental misunderstanding—or perhaps a deliberate exploitation—of the difference between raw percentage marks and the normalized percentile system. Board exam scores are calculated as straight percentages based on the absolute marks a student obtains out of the total possible marks.

In contrast, the MHT-CET employs a percentile system, which indicates a student’s relative performance compared to all other candidates who appeared for the exam in the same session.

A 100 percentile does not mean the student scored 100 percent of the marks; rather, it signifies that the candidate scored higher than 99.9 percent of their peers. The normalization process is inherently designed to ensure equity across multiple exam batches, compensating for variations in the difficulty levels of different question papers.

Flawed Formula

However, this complex statistical adjustment has now become the epicenter of suspicion. Critics argue that the normalization formula might be flawed or intentionally manipulated, creating an opaque system where raw merit is overshadowed by an algorithmic adjustment. Parents and experts remain bewildered as to how a student failing to grasp basic concepts in subjective board exams could suddenly demonstrate absolute mastery in the objective format of the MHT-CET.

The sheer mathematical improbability of students with profoundly weak foundational knowledge outperforming the state's brightest minds in a rigorous entrance test has triggered widespread alarm across the academic community.

Political leaders across the state have seized upon these statistical anomalies, demanding an immediate and impartial investigation to ensure robust public policy and administrative oversight within the state's educational framework.

Politics Intensifies

Senior Congress leader and AICC secretary Sachin Sawant was among the first to blow the whistle, asserting that the scale of irregularities is incredibly concerning. Sawant stated to the media that students who scored merely 35 to 40 percent in their Class 12 board exams had astonishingly secured a perfect 100 percentile in the MHT-CET.

He cited specific cases where top-ranked candidates in the CET Mathematics section had barely passed their board exams in the same subject, calling the situation highly suspicious and demanding a high-level inquiry to punish those responsible.

The political heat intensified recently in Nanded, adding another layer to the unfolding drama. Congress state spokesperson Balaji Gade Patil publicly accused a local BJP corporator of result manipulation after the corporator's twin children allegedly secured 99 percentiles in the MHT-CET.

Patil pointed out the glaring inconsistency, noting that the twins had scored a mediocre 56 percent and 51 percent in their Class 12 Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics group, and had performed poorly in the national JEE exam.

Other prominent opposition leaders have aggressively joined the fray, escalating the pressure on the state government. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray challenged the fundamental structure of the exam, pointing out that conducting a single subject's paper across twenty-four distinct batches inevitably creates gross disparities in difficulty levels.

Thackeray vehemently demanded absolute transparency, stating that merely publishing percentiles is misleading; he insisted that the actual raw marks and the students' answer sheets must be disclosed immediately to expose the truth.

Adding weight to these concerns, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) legislator Rohit Pawar has publicly alleged the existence of an organized racket operating within the state.

Pawar asserted that unscrupulous elements are actively taking vast sums of money to artificially inflate candidates' percentiles in the MHT-CET, guaranteeing them lucrative admissions into premier educational institutions at the cost of deserving students.

Minister Defends

In response to the mounting outrage, Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, under whose department the CET Cell operates, has found himself facing severe backlash.

While confronted with demands for a judicial probe led by retired High Court judges, Patil and the state administration have maintained that the examination process remains untainted.

The state government and the CET Cell have consistently denied any foul play, defending the integrity of the normalisation process and clarifying that the results were declared using an established percentile method without the awarding of any grace marks.

Officials argue that the mismatch between board scores and entrance percentiles is not an anomaly but a common occurrence across different testing formats. They explain that the structure of a subjective board exam differs drastically from a multiple-choice entrance test, leading to expected variations in student performance.

Despite these administrative assurances, the growing chorus of voices demanding the release of raw marks and a forensic audit of the results suggests that the controversy is far from over.

'Special' exam centre offered to student in audio clip

An audio clip of a woman allegedly offering a "special" exam centre to an engineering aspirant for Rs 12 lakh has surfaced, prompting the Maharashtra CET Cell to lodge a police complaint, officials said on Tuesday.

Several students, parents and the Opposition Congress questioned the credibility of the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) for engineering colleges, claiming that some candidates with modest academic records secured near-perfect percentiles.

They demanded a thorough probe, saying the future of meritorious students was at stake.

In the clip, a woman is purportedly heard offering an unidentified parent a "special" examination centre for nearly Rs 12 lakh. She claims the arrangement would help the student secure an exceptionally high percentile and gain admission to a reputed government-aided engineering college.

State CET Cell Commissioner and CEO Dilip Sardesai said they have taken cognisance of the unverified audio clip.

"The MH-CET Cell has not received any complaint in connection with the audio clip. We have taken cognisance of it and lodged complaints with the State Cyber Cell and the Azad Maidan police (in Mumbai)," Sardesai told reporters.

He, however, rejected allegations that candidates could influence the allotment of examination centres.

"A student can choose four preferred examination centres. Female candidates can opt for centres within their district. A week before the exam, students are informed only about the city/town where they will appear. The exact name and address of the centre are shared two days before the exam. No student has the final say in selecting the examination centre. It is allotted randomly through a computerised process," he said.

"We will analyse the students under suspicion. But on this information alone, we cannot conclude that those who scored very high percentiles did anything wrong," he said.