Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is a multi-campus public funded research university in Mumbai, India.

TISS is Asia’s oldest institute for professional social work education and was founded in 1936 in the then Bombay Presidency of British India as the Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

With hardly two months to go, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Tuesday announced changes in the paper pattern of the National Entrance Test (TISSNET).

TISS has also introduced a new exam Management Aptitude Test (TISS-MAT), for those students opting for masters in human resource management and labour relations (HRM and LR) and in organization development, change and leadership (ODCL).

This has created a ruffle in the studies of the students across the country who has already started preparing for the exam. This test will be held nationwide on January 4, 2019, in centres across the country.

This notification came two weeks after the applications for TISSNET 2019 had already started. On Wednesday, TISS Students Union rebuked the changes saying they were made without any student statement and was an attack on the “affirmative action policy” and “the representative nature of the classroom”.

The union has requested that the changes should be cancelled. Earlier TISS conducted a single entrance test for admissions to all courses.

The TISSNET marks comprised of 40 percent weightage in a candidates selection however it is now seen that the exam will only function as a filtration process following which the selection will depend only on the marks obtained in the essay writing and the personal interviews which will be conducted.

Harshit Singh, an Indore Resident, was to opt for HRM and LR and the development studies course which he felt the decision as an “experiment”.

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According to Shwetank Vats, “For TISSNET, general knowledge, English and mathematics were the main subjects, but for TISS-MAT, economy and HR-related topics will need to be studied too; this is terrifying.

The entrance exam in itself is a tough exam for a BCom student like me. Now the whole point is that it is attempted only to pass the exam to qualify for another test.

The decision of the administration will largely affect the students who are from remote areas, who are unable to express themselves clearly.” Shwetank Vats is a student who has applied for masters in criminology and justice, rural development and public health and he lives in Gorakhpur.

He also added that “there are no fixed parameters for marking the essays whereas one cannot predict what will happen during the interviews. I had filled the application, keeping in mind the rules of last year.”

“The decision was taken without any students’ presence, and hence we demand the administration to cancel these changes for TISSNET 2020.

Through this step, affirmative action will be under attack. We demand answers as to why we were not consulted,” stated Bhatta Ram, president, TISS Mumbai Students Union.

The statement released by the students union stated the introduction of TISS-MAT would make it harder for students who do not have any prior experience of management to qualify for the examination, even though the degree awarded is an MA and not MBA.

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It also stated that with only 60 days to the exam, the coaching centres would try to advertise it and hence leading to a large number of students.

The exam is hence being seen as a mode of business school model which hampers the representative nature of the classroom.