It’s been a news-filled year here at the Education desk. From drastic entrance exam alterations to overhauling of courses, here’s a round-up of the seven major changes that were announced, and how they affect the Mumbai student

The Mumbai University and other colleges have been in revolution-mode this year, announcing several major transformations to entrance exam formats, course curricula, and new policies. Here’s a list of the seven most newsworthy changes that have either come into effect, or been announced, this last academic year, in no particular order.
Three new national entrance exams were introduced so students don’t have to give several exams. 1. JEE:
After several months, government meetings, alumni protests and a whole lot of controversy, a ticket to enter the IITs now involves two entrance exams (last we heard): A JEE-main and a JEE-advanced. Plus, you have to be in the top 20 percentile of your Class 12 boards. This decision came after severe protest against the original plan, for which Class 12 board exam results would count for 50% of the application.
2. GMAT:
June 5 onwards, an integrated reasoning component replaced the analytical writing assessment essay question in the GMAT exam. This IR section tests
3. CMAT:
Another ‘one nation, one exam’ philosophy espouser, the Common Management Admissions Test (CMAT), launched this year, aims to free students from having to give various competitive exams to get into management institutes. The CMAT is a three-hour test with four sections, one each for quantitative aptitude, data interpretation, logical and analytical reasoning and general awareness.

4. NEET:
Again, the government first announced that medical students from all states would do the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) so that they wouldn’t have to do various state-based exams from 2012 onwards, but with parents and students protesting that they didn’t have enough notice to prepare for this new exam, it was decided that the NEET for Maharashtra would come into effect from 2013.
5. Vocational education:
The Mumbai University introduced a new bachelor’s degree in vocational education this year. BVoc, as it is called, allows students to specialise in several technical and professional fields, from theatre craft to construction. The degree is structured to focus on skills-development and a flexible schedule, and to make technical jobs more aspirational.
6. Architecture course:
The bachelors of architecture course under the Mumbai University was updated this year to include a one-year internship, a flexible curriculum with specialisms like art criticism and environment studies, and a choice-based credit system.
7. Science syllabus:
The junior college curriculum for science was given a significant facelift to have a practical, less by-rote system. This syllabus lays emphasis on internal assessments, regular tests and practical laboratory activities, and has an evolved evaluation system. students on quantitative skills, data-processing abilities and reading comprehension, as opposed to the essay question, which asked students to argue the pros and cons of an issue.