The impact of economic slowdown and job insecurity is leading to less number of candidates taking the Common Admission Test (CAT) examination 2013.Last year there were 2.14 lakh CAT registrations which dropped down to 1.94 lakh this year. This is the lowest since 2008.
Interestingly, with the decrease in the number of applicants there has been a hike in the number of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) over the years, from 7 in 2008 to 13 this year, offering 3,335 plus another 7,000 seats in B-school. There has been a sudden lack of interest among the students for B-school because of economic recession and lack of jobs in the market. This is also leading to shut down of some private universities which is a major concern for the management education in India. But the IIM directors and head of B-schools are confident that the decline in the number of candidates will not affect the quality of education or candidates in India. They are of the view that only the best of the best candidates get selected in reputed B-schools and a small decline in the overall CAT registration will not affect the quality of the students they select.
