Tahmina from Herat Built Her First Real Database Last Week at VJTI Mumbai. Here Is How She Got There.
Tahmina is from Herat, Afghanistan. She studies Information Technology at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute : VJTI : in Matunga, Mumbai. And last week her group completed a project that she is still thinking about.
They designed and implemented a relational database from scratch. A library management system : books, borrowers, loans, returns, queries. They wrote the schema. They built the tables. They defined the relationships between them. They tested the queries. At the end of the session, the database connected, the queries returned the correct results, and the system worked.
Tahmina sat in the lab for a moment after the group finished. It felt different from a textbook exercise. It felt like something that could run in a real library, serving real people looking for real books.
That feeling : of having built something functional, not just practised something academic : is what she came to VJTI for. And she found VJTI herself, on fn.mahacet.org.
Why Information Technology
Tahmina grew up in Herat during a period when mobile phones became the primary way that many Afghans accessed information, communicated, and conducted business. She watched the transformation that connectivity brought : not just to individuals, but to communities. Businesses that could now reach customers they had never been able to reach before. Families staying connected across long distances. Information becoming accessible to people who had previously had no easy way to find it.
She became interested in the systems behind this transformation. Not just the devices, but the software, the databases, the networks, the security protocols, the data management systems that made the connectivity possible and kept it reliable. She wanted to understand how those systems were built and how to build better ones.
Information Technology was the right subject. It covers the full stack of digital systems : from the database layer that stores and organises data, through the software layer that processes and presents it, to the network layer that transmits it, and the security layer that protects it. She wanted all of it. VJTI offered all of it.
Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute : What VJTI Is
Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, known as VJTI, is one of India's oldest and most respected technical institutions. Established in 1887 in Matunga, Mumbai, it has been training engineers and technologists for over 135 years. VJTI's alumni include some of India's most significant technology leaders, and its location in Mumbai places it at the centre of India's technology, finance, and media industries.
The Information Technology program at VJTI covers databases and database management systems, computer networks and network security, operating systems, software engineering, data structures and algorithms, web technologies, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence foundations. The curriculum is designed to produce graduates who can work across the full range of IT roles : from software development and system administration to data engineering and cybersecurity.
The computer laboratories at VJTI are equipped with current hardware and software tools. Students work on industry-standard systems using the same tools and methodologies used by IT professionals in the technology companies located throughout Mumbai's commercial districts. The gap between what students learn at VJTI and what IT professionals do in the industry is deliberately kept as small as possible.
For Tahmina, who came from Herat specifically because she wanted to study technology seriously rather than theoretically, VJTI was the right institution. The database project last week was not an exception : it was the standard.
Mumbai as a Technology City
VJTI's location in Mumbai is not incidental to the quality of its technology education. Mumbai is India's commercial capital and one of Asia's most active technology and finance cities. The technology ecosystem surrounding VJTI includes major Indian IT companies, the India offices of global technology corporations, a growing startup ecosystem, and the financial sector whose technology infrastructure is one of the most sophisticated in Asia.
Students at VJTI are not studying technology in an academic environment that is disconnected from the industry they are preparing to enter. They are studying it in the city where that industry is actively happening. Internship opportunities, industry guest lectures, campus recruitment, and professional networking are all part of the VJTI experience because the industry is literally nearby.
For Afghan students returning home after graduation, the professional network and the understanding of global technology practice that Mumbai provides is genuinely applicable. Afghanistan's technology sector is growing. Mobile banking, e-government services, connectivity infrastructure, digital healthcare systems : all of these are areas where Information Technology professionals with serious training will be needed. VJTI prepares students for that level of work.
How She Found fn.mahacet.org and Applied
Tahmina found VJTI by searching fn.mahacet.org : the Government of Maharashtra's official Foreign Candidate Registration Portal, operated by the State Common Entrance Test Cell, Government of Maharashtra. The portal is the government's direct platform for processing international student admissions across Maharashtra's 6,000+ institutions.
She used the search filters on the portal. She selected Bachelors under the Applying For field. She selected Bachelor of Engineering/Technology under Course Name. She selected Information Technology under Specialization. Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute appeared in the results. She read the program details and the institution description. She selected it and applied directly through the portal.
No agent was involved. No private consultant was contacted. She did the search and the application herself, in one session on the government portal.
The Application Process Step by Step
Tahmina's application through fn.mahacet.org followed the standard Foreign National Student process.
She used the category checker at fn.mahacet.org/category-check to confirm her eligibility as a Foreign National Student. This is a free step that takes a few minutes and confirms which international student category applies before any fees are paid.
For Information Technology under Bachelor of Engineering/Technology, the academic requirement for international students is a passed 12th grade examination with Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects, plus one additional relevant science or technology subject, with a minimum of 45 percent aggregate in these subjects combined. Tahmina had Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry in her 12th grade with results that met this requirement.
She uploaded her required documents through the portal: her passport, her 12th grade academic certificates, and a passport-size photograph.
She paid the eligibility fee of USD 50 through the CCAvenue payment gateway on the portal. Foreign currency is accepted. After her documents were verified and her eligibility was confirmed, she paid the processing fee of USD 1,150. Both amounts are fixed, government-regulated, listed on fn.mahacet.org before any payment, and non-refundable. There are no additional portal charges beyond these amounts. College fees are listed separately per institution on the portal.
No entrance exam was required. International students applying through fn.mahacet.org for Bachelor of Engineering/Technology programs : including Information Technology : are not required to sit MHT-CET or any other Maharashtra state examination. This exemption applies to Foreign National Students, NRI, OCI, PIO, and CIWGC candidates.
Her offer letter arrived through the portal. On arrival in India, she completed FRRO registration within 14 days as required for all foreign national students. Physical verification of her original documents took place at VJTI. The whole process from the first portal search to her first day in the VJTI computer lab was structured, direct, and guided entirely through fn.mahacet.org.
What She Would Tell Afghan Women Considering Technology
Tahmina is clear about something she wants every Afghan woman considering technology to hear: the field is not closed to women. It never was. The assumption that technology is a male domain is not a fact about technology : it is a social pattern that exists in some contexts and not in others.
At VJTI, her computer lab group includes women from Afghanistan, Africa, Southeast Asia, and India. The professor does not treat female students differently from male students. The coursework does not differentiate. The database project last week did not care about anyone's gender. It cared whether the schema was correctly designed and the queries were correctly written. Tahmina's schema was correct. Her queries returned the right results.
Her practical advice for Afghan women interested in Information Technology is straightforward. Go to fn.mahacet.org. Use the course search: Bachelor of Engineering/Technology, Information Technology. Browse the institutions that appear. VJTI Mumbai is one option : a serious institution in a city that takes technology seriously. The academic requirement is 12th grade with Physics and Mathematics and a minimum of 45 percent. The portal fees are USD 50 and USD 1,150, both fixed. The application is direct. No agent is needed.
The database she built last week is a library management system. Small, functional, real. The next one she builds will be bigger. That is how it works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Information Technology at VJTI Mumbai require an entrance exam for international students?
No. International students applying through fn.mahacet.org for Bachelor of Engineering/Technology programs including Information Technology are not required to sit any entrance exam. Admission is based on 12th grade marks in Physics and Mathematics with one additional science subject and a minimum of 45 percent aggregate. The portal fees are USD 50 eligibility and USD 1,150 processing, both fixed, listed before payment, and non-refundable.
How do I find Information Technology at VJTI on fn.mahacet.org?
Go to fn.mahacet.org and use the Student Preferences search. Under Applying For, select Bachelors. Under Course Name, select Bachelor of Engineering/Technology. Under Specialization, select Information Technology. Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Matunga, Mumbai will appear in the results. Select it and apply directly through the portal. No agent is needed at any stage.
Ready to apply?
Maharashtra is India's most connected state for international students. 6,000+ institutions. Every confirmed program. One government-backed portal. No agents. No middlemen.
Apply now at fn.mahacet.org/ : the official Government of Maharashtra portal.
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