India, Nov. 12 -- In a major reform for higher education, the Maharashtra government has decided to conduct the Common Entrance Test (CET) for engineering, pharmacy, and MBA courses twice a year, starting from the 2026-27 academic year. The move aims to reduce academic stress and give students a chance to improve their scores, similar to the national-level Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

Higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Dada Patil announced the decision on Tuesday after a review meeting with senior officials, including additional chief secretary B Venugopal Reddy, CET Cell commissioner Dilip Sardesai, director of higher education Shailendra Devlankar, and director of technical education Vinod Mohitkar.

Patil said th...