IRMA puts up a fight to retain its own entrance exam : PaGaLGuY

The Institute of Rural Management, Anand, (IRMA) in Gujarat has filed a writ petition against the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in relation to the now famous court case concering the 'permitted' MBA entrance exams. IRMA is fighting to retain its own entrance exam and not take any of the five exams as stipulated by the AICTE and the subsequent court verdict.

The writ petition which was filed in the Supreme Court earlier this month is going to come up for hearing in the last week on October. However, even before the hearing, IRMA has already declared on its website that it will not take the scores of any other exam.

The five exams include the Common Admission Test (CAT), Xavier Admission Test (XAT), Common Management Admission Test (CMAT which has replaced the Common Entrance Test in most states), AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA) and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT which (technically) replaced Joint Management Entrance Test).

Post the AICTE notification and the two-year court battle, institutes like the Faculty of Management Studies and the management wing of the Indian Institute of Technology switched to the CAT exam. Mudra Institute of Communication (MICA), on the other hand, tried hard to retain just its own entrance exam MICAT but finally had to accept one of the five exams as an additional component.

IRMA however decided to stick to its position.

According to officials at IRMA, the institute has been using its own entrance exam for admission ever since it began operations in 1979. "This exam helps us admit the kind of student the programme needs. The five admission tests designated by the AICTE cannot help us in this purpose. Yes, even the IRMA exam has Quant but we also check for other qualities which tell us whether the applicant is in tune with the IRMA thinking."

The spokesperson added that even the GDs are styled in a way that check whether applicants are open to working for the rural and co-operative cause either in a rural setting or urban. “We can’t take an exam like CMAT and take in people from a general counselling pool. Our pool has to be dedicated.”

IRMA, when established, hoped to groom and provide professional managerial support to Operations Flood implemented by the National Dairy Development Board. It was felt then that those who apply to the Indian Institutes of Management and other business schools would shy away from working for the co-operative sector and rural causes. This bent of mind exists, in many ways, even today.

As per IRMA’s website, the Admission Test will be conducted on November 11, 2012 as previously announced and across 27 centers across India.

The written test will be of 200 marks, comprising four sections: analytical reasoning (60 marks), quantitative ability (50 marks), English comprehension (50 marks), and issues of social concern (40 marks).

The website further states that admissions for 2013-15 batch will be a compilation of three separate qualifying procedures. IRMA results would be an aggregate of the written exam, interview and presentation of an essay.

Incidentally, IRMA’s test scores are additionally used by other institutes such as the rural management programme of the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), Institute of Rural Management (IRM), Jaipur, KIIT School of Rural Management, Bhubaneswar and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), Gandhinagar.

Much will depend on what the court decides at the end of the month. If the verdict does go in favour of the institute, it would be interesting to see what other institutes which have/had their own entrance exams do.

Page 2 of 3
mickey.ujn i agree that irma,tiss,mica,mib mhrod and mbe mfc kind of programmes shouldnt be under cmat..bt for regular mba's cmat can be hold 3-4 times a year..nd thus financial pressure which is immense on a student may be avoided..the problem can furthurmoredone away if cmatscore is taken into consideration for 3 yrs just like gmat..aicte needs to control the fees taken by every dime a dozen insti for god's sake..nt evryone is born with a silverspoon..
#21 • 23 Oct '12 Like 3
ipm AICTE Shud scrap CAT Also,,,,AICTE Is right....
#22 • 23 Oct '12 Like 5
anujbudhiraja AICTE then should look at only one exam as it will not be burden for Students as well as institutes....then they can have round the clock exams instead of 1 exam in one year....So to all fairness there should be one exam so that nobody suffer in terms of money and time.

Thanks and Regards
Anuj Budhiraja - Student - BLP batch 2012-13

School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL)
#23 • 23 Oct '12 Like 1
kulkarnios If AICTE is concerned about students so much then , they should make the colleges accept the application after the results are out. what say puys?
#24 • 23 Oct '12 Like 6
devang20 AICTE shud not force any institute to scrape its own exam and shud leave atleast specialized institute alone....
#25 • 23 Oct '12 Like
LORDZED AICTE might just organize lucky draws for admission from next year, that will take away all the pressure.(pun intended)
#26 • 23 Oct '12 Like 4
ChandMBA In that case AICTE should stop any institute from having their own entrance test and limit to a common entrance test which will be acceptable by every college. Its a way to earn money, leave the exam..for the score to be accepted again we need to fill their pockets.
#27 • 23 Oct '12 Like 1
Psychamour When govt goes tough on mgmt instt to accept their verdict , the clever instts anyhow find a way to bypass the forced decision on them. No wonder when they are churning out professionals(Managers), who are supposed to make a Phool out of consumers in their life ahead, they themselves know the trick best. Take for instance MICA, the smart isntt has happily accepted the govt's decision to accept one of the 5 entrance test, without any resistance. How ?
It has notified that all of those who will apply thru any of the tests will be given a call, irrespective of any cut offs in any of the respective exams. BUT every candidate will then have to sit for MICAT. And then the final admit list wil be declared based on the aggregate score in CAT/x/y/z + MICAT + GD/GE/PI, with only 20% wieghtage given to CAT family.
In essence, MICA made the Govt happy becoz it accepted the one entrance test rule, made the candidates happy that there will be no cut offs on these exams and everybody who will apply will get atleast A Call, then at last made themselves happy by still choosing their batch effectively by MICAT and not by any other exam. So effectivley, no change in existing system of selection at all.
I respect IRMA that it did not come of any such clever way to phool both candidate and govt and is boldy fighting for its cause. Just hope that it doesnt gives in under the pressure and adopts a similar way to bypass the govt's rule as MICA did.

#28 • 23 Oct '12 Like
highride123 IRMA is totally a different pool of ideas which hav rural developmant on its mind always not lyk othr top institutes who jst insist on corporate sector n thier so called packages............. so y shud it bhave lyk othrs, it hav its own identity nd its own style of work................I think if its pattern is changed its no more going to fulfill late dr.kurian's dream..... i really dont understand wat prblm does AICTE hav ? y do it pokes it nose eveyrwhere? god knows..................... IRMA is rite fight 4 right........... IRMA rocks.......... kudos to al IRMANS n IRMA aspirants.....ATB IRMA.....
#29 • 23 Oct '12 Like 1
jcdenton All these tall claims of making a single exam for all mba colleges is a mere lip service...honestly an aspirant who has prepared well is ready to take any number of tests...taking less exams does not increase his intelligence or his intelligence does not decrease by taking more exams...
#30 • 23 Oct '12 Like
paritosh712 I would say bring back even FMS ! it was a hallowed paper in its own!
People need to understand that single paper for all approach works when paper is dependable. here we are talking of narrowing down to maybe single paper in future. Imagine whole career banking on one day of CAT! It can't work efficiently with the capricious nature of our single paper!
#31 • 23 Oct '12 Like 1
mickey.ujn @paritosh712 I believe cmat can be held round the year if we have single exam concept..to hell with cat , xat and other xams..they only increase the financial burden on the students..also the no. of attempts can be increased..the scores shud be valid for 3yrs..then there will be no probs for any student as even if a college comes up with a form 3 yrs marks can be used to justify selection..I also think that we need to stop our madness regarding so many exams..we create the toughest exams like iitjees,CAT,XAT etc..bt or failure to produce better results show the inadequacies of or system..we can follow the american model and stop education sector to become just a bussiness like real estate..
#32 • 23 Oct '12 Like
prashantdav AICTE must not forget the fact that IRMA is not just any MBA institutes but the "Only Prestigious Rural Management School". you can't evaluate the right candidate for this distinct sector based on parameters like CAT/XAT/ blah blah..whatever xyz scores... May be Govt should appoint another regulatory body like "All India Council Of Rural Education" for regulating institutes dedicated to Rural sector.
#33 • 23 Oct '12 Like 1
vivaciousmani only 40 questions on social concern....out of which section cut off will be 10-12 marks(as most students score least in this section even now).....do u think knowledge of just 10-12 (ratta mar k yad kiye hue)question on social concern fulfills the purpose of rural management ....i think there will be not any difference b/w CAT nd IRMA test left.....if IRMA has to be fully perfessional then it has to conduct exam of all question based on social concern means whole 200 questions on socal exam...other wise it will just add pressure on the students for mugging questions on social concern just 4 the sake of clearing cut offs......wat say
#34 • 24 Oct '12 Like 1
manutdforever @vivaciousmani As a student at IRMA i can say that preparing for ISC section made me realise the many facets of rural india, agriculture etc... So it served a dual purpose of as you said getting marks and also getting to know things which one can work upon in the future..
#35 • 24 Oct '12 Like 1
manutdforever IRMA needs the correct pool of students because the vagaries of the course(like the induction field work, the Field work segment) tests a student's ability to deal with and adjust to various situations..I am sure that even if IRMA eventually bows to the request of AICTE there would be a screening methodology to get the right pool of candidates
#36 • 24 Oct '12 Like 1
DEVILISHANGEL irma should get a secondary filter like mica.
#37 • 24 Oct '12 Like
sushantvit @muditD its 40 q in ISC this year
#38 • 24 Oct '12 Like
rokhat watch this after 50 sec there is sth for us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-I7FCy7FHY&feature;=related
#39 • 24 Oct '12 Like
biggiesmalls Kapil Sibal & his cronies at MHRD have gone Brain DEAD
#40 • 24 Oct '12 Like
Page 3 of 3
vivaciousmani @muditD point 1--get ur facts right point 2--check out the thread of 2013-15 IRMA admissions.....where mostly applicants are asking, where to prepare for social concern...means if the students are so interested in rural management from very start..then they definitly dont ask such questions...bcz then they have atleast knowledge of magazines related to rural upliftment like kurukshetra, chronicle and others...if they were so interested in rural management then they were even habitual of reading such magazines, not asking 4m where to prepare for social concerns.....point3-- i will not say all, but 90% students who apply to IRMA r definitely not interested in rural manag., they are applying bcz IRMA's rank is good...it is at 27th...and good placements.......thats why.........GOT IT
#41 • 24 Oct '12 Like
sushantvit @vivaciousmani 1.It's good that people are getting attracted,hence being aware about the rural sector due to packages,profiles etc.Where's the harm. Charity is a myth.
2.About 90% ppl not being interested in rural sector- IRMA's selection rate is 1%.By simple probability,genuinely interested ppl also make it to IRMA.Fair enough?
#42 • 25 Oct '12 Like 5
ctaditi @sushantvit ya actually which in turn would add on more stress

#43 • 25 Oct '12 Like
kanhaiya619 irma my dream institute

#44 • 25 Oct '12 Like 2
vivaciousmani @sushantvit i can understand that there is nt any harm f people r getting awared...but the harmful thing here is that, being enrolled in prm at IRMA, u r considering charity as myth...if the students of IRMA have thinking like this..then what will be the future of this institute...thats why i called that students like u who has no interest in charity, social work, rural upliftment(it proves 4m the fact, u called charity as myth), who still being enrolled in IRMA ...then why to fight for its own test..it is still taking wrong pool of students....then why to fight? just accept CAT TEST...first of all i wanna tell u , charity is not myth..charity is essence of livelihood for those people who have compassion for under priviliged people..who can felt the pain of people who r fighting 4 their rights and basic neccessties of life...and u call charity as myth...who can always give his/her hands to those who r in need...who always have patriotic vision to bring change in the present pcture of rural sector....who can under stand it better than me, who belongs to very small villige(1100 ppl) and my father is farmer..so i know from what type of period, indian rural ppl r getting through...and u r trying to give me the demonstration bout objectives of rural sector....NOW IS IT FAIR ENOUGH?
#45 • 26 Oct '12 Like
sushantvit @vivaciousmani come on! you have shown your way of thinking by judging without knowing.Tell me do you even know my background? do you know what family i come fromnplease don't teach ppl about working for rural India.I'm currently staying and working in a remote village with a population of 150.Come to IRMA,then you will know what charity stands for.
We are supposed to be rural managers and not social activists.We are taught how to work for upliftment of the rural People.Charity is just a feel good word.I hope we meet someday and discuss more at Campus.
#46 • 26 Oct '12 Like 3
vivaciousmani @sushantvit OK alright! i also hope we will meet some day....now can u please tell me what is your take on the fact that IRMA Should maintain its test....now there are only 40 questions...do you think getting 10-12 question right and clearing the cut off will enroll right kind of students in IRMA...means what difference is left b/w CAT and IRMA? plz explain....thanks in advance
#47 • 26 Oct '12 Like
sushantvit @vivaciousmani do you think the written test is the only criteria for selecting candidates for IRMA? There is a gd/essay and then there are interviews.There will be a presentation at campus at the time of gd,Now most of the institutes have a presentation which attracts students.Here at IRMA you'll be told about the type of candidate the institute desires and it helps in making wise choice,for institute and the candidates as well. Read my first comment on this article. I said IRMA will definitely add a filter of its own with CAT,if it loses its exam.Filter here might stand for any exam or an additional interview round.
#48 • 26 Oct '12 Like
vjjani having social concern section in IRMA test is to avoid only number crunchers what actually is the output of CAT...
IRMA needs good bled of people...and if IRMA starts accepting CAT scores, they will get number crunchers through merit system based on cut off...
One with 100 percentile in CAT may be a not suitable candidate of IRMA if he does not have the sensitivity required...so it is better to create the filter at very first step...
and if IRMA adopts a general test, everybody will apply to IRMA...at IRMA people are satisfied with even 1/10th or 1/15 or 1/20th number of applications compared to CAT/XAT...
@IIM-Desperado A...quantitative ability is essential..so they need CAT...for IRMA sensitivity is required...for that they have separate exam addressing that need...
ppl having problem that aspirants start reading special GK magazines etc for IRMA and they are not that willing from begining...but guys how many out of general pool CAT applicants are willing to put that effort also..and if it's found that he/she has shallow understanding of rural/social issues, surely he/she will be thrown out at interview stage...
so different needs require different skills and different aptitudes...so different aptitude tests...

#49 • 28 Oct '12 Like
guddu12345 irma should carry on in its way.
#50 • 31 Oct '12 Like
motilalji Hey guys I cant find the timing of the IRMA paper on 11 November anywhere.I need to book my train tickets asap.Please let me know.

#51 • 02 Nov '12 Like
passiongirl most probably it will be at mrng 10
#52 • 03 Nov '12 Like
Salony1 When will the results be declared??
#53 • 19 Dec '12 Like
nehatekriwal which are the colleges that are taking IRMA score this year..??
i have scored 65.66% (OBC) in IRMA 2012.
plzz help..!!??

#54 • 03 Jan Like

B I U

Press Shift+Enter to add a new line.

Messages

Notifications

Karma Updates

Messages

Notifications

Karma Updates

New to PaGaLGuY?

New to PaGaLGuY? Sign Up!

Warn User

Repeal a Warning

Promote this post