MUMBAI, Oct. 27 -- Students appearing for the state Common Entrance Tests (CETs) for admission to technical, professional, medical and other higher education courses will get two attempts to take the examinations from the current academic year, Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil said on Monday. The decision will extend the facility to all 19 CETs conducted by the state CET Cell, giving students an additional opportunity to improve their scores. Until now, two attempts were offered only for select courses, including engineering and MBA/MMS. Patil announced the decision while speaking to reporters after an event at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University in Lonere. Last year, the CET Cell conducted two examinations in April and May for selected courses. The facility will now be extended to courses such as law, Bachelor of Education (BEd) and other technical, professional and medical programmes. The move is expected to give students greater flexibility in preparing for entrance examinations. Those dissatisfied with their scores in the first attempt will be able to appear again and improve their performance. The state government is also considering changes to the eligibility criteria for admission. One proposal is to raise the minimum aggregate marks required in the Class 12 board examinations, rather than give weightage to board examination scores during the admission process....