The media hype around Delhi University (DU) translates into millions aiming for a coveted seat in its colleges. But most of them are not able to make it due to exceptionally high cut-off. Now, DU has come up with an effective solution to counter this menace.
2021 was a decisive year for Delhi University. The end of the revolutionary year saw University changing its admission criteria for undergraduate courses. Now, the central University will not be filling its seats based on a hierarchy of percentages.
Read more: The unhealthy obsession with Delhi University must end. It is not worth it
Delhi University to hold Entrance Test for bachelors’’ admission
University will now conduct its own entrance test to admit students into its colleges. On December 20 (2021), the Executive Council of the University released a notice to this effect. In its release, the Council said, “The Executive Council of the University of Delhi at its meeting held on 17th December 2021 resolved that the admissions for the Academic Session 2022-2023 onwards in all Under-Graduate (UG) Courses of the University of Delhi shall be made through Central University Common Entrance Test (CUCET) or Delhi University Common Entrance Test (DUCET)”. DU is yet to decide on the full modalities of the test.
The test had already been approved by the academic council meeting held on December 10. Earlier, in October (2021), the vice-chancellor of the University had constituted a nine-member committee to suggest reforms in undergraduate admission procedures.
In its recommendation, the committee had suggested that University should conduct entrance tests for Undergraduate admissions. According to the panel, it would ensure that substantial objectivity will be maintained. The recommendation was accepted by the academic council in its December 10 meeting.
Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the University also gave a brief idea of the format of the entrance to be conducted. He said “There will be two sections of the test. First is the aptitude test which will be common to everyone and the second part of the test will have many combinations and options.”
Problem with marks as criteria for admission
Up until 2021, Delhi University has been using 12th board marks as a criterion for admitting students. The marks criterion is mired by distortion. India is a diverse country with each state having its own curriculum and methodology for teaching. In fact, the process of internal assessment and setting of question papers is different, for different states.
All these processes combined with different criteria for awarding marks create a huge gap in the final result of students from different boards. Due to these variations, a student securing 80 percent in ICSE board or 70 percent in Bihar Board, for instance, get ousted from the admission process; despite being more meritorious than Kerala board students getting 100 percent marks.
Read more: Kerala students are now dominating DU because anyone can get 100% marks in Kerala Board
Experts divided on the issue
Vikash Gupta, registrar of University opines, “In the past few years, we have seen students getting exorbitant marks, which in turn was leading to very high cutoffs. The entrance exam from this year will bring some relief to students. The pressure of high cutoffs will not be there. They can focus on specific subjects for preparation,”
Critics of the entrance test urge that the advent of entrance tests will give birth to the coaching industry. According to Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a contributing editor of Indian Express, this is a gift for the coaching industry. He says that more institutions of the quality of DU need to be created in order to ease pressure on universities.
Entrance Tests have proved to be better
Up until now, an entrance test has proved to be a better predictor of a university’s success. The global domination of graduates from IITs and IIMs owes mainly to tough and rigorous entrance tests conducted by them. On the downside, it has resulted in rote learning through coaching institutions.
However, coaching institutions are engaged in preparing students for 12th class boards as well. Now, students will be selecting coaching institutions that will prepare them for DU. Frankly, it’s tough to see which side will win. But the DU administration should be appreciated for taking a progressive step.