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Delhi University’s SOL launches Center for Innovative Skill-based Courses (CISBC)

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Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) launches 30 short-term courses catering to various fields under the Open Learning Development Centre. 

The School of Open Learning has launched the registration process for its Centre for Innovative Skill-Based Courses (CISBC). This initiative offers thirty short-term skill-based certificate courses ranging from 25 to 30 hours with a maximum duration of 6 months. These courses are designed to accommodate learners’ diverse schedules and preferences, with options available in offline, online, and hybrid formats.

Registration for the courses officially began on February 15th and will remain open until March 15th, 2024. The courses are set to commence on April 2nd, 2024, providing ample time for interested individuals to enroll. These courses welcome registrations from all, including University of Delhi students, with admission being granted on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on seat availability. As per the official website, for courses with fees exceeding Rs. 1000/-, upon reaching a batch size of 40–50 students, 10% of the supernumerary seats will be reserved for Economically Weaker Section candidates at subsidised rates, subject to screening.

Among the thirty courses available under the CISBC are English Proficiency, GST Executive, Cyber Security, Tax Assessment, Motor Driving, Medical Transcription, Wealth Management Programme, Medical Transcription, Radio Jockeying, Bakery and Confectionery, A/C and Refrigerator Repair, and Beauty and Hair Makeup, among others. 

As per the reports from India Today, Professor Payal Mago, the Director of SOL, highlighted that these valuable skill-based certificate courses would offer students a chance to improve their opportunities for employment.

She emphasised that these courses are highly effective in preparing students for job opportunities by imparting practical skills aligned with current industry demands. The accessible programmes will provide a joint certification from Delhi University and esteemed national and international organisations, enhancing students’ credentials.

The portal was launched on January 31 under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University, Professor Yogesh Singh. He saw this centre as a ‘life changer’, opening doors for students to access skill-based courses. A brochure detailing all the courses was also distributed on the same day. 

For any queries, applicants can email [email protected] or call 9318354363, 9318354636.

Read Also: Inquiry to be Launched Against 12 DU Colleges Funded by the Delhi Government

Featured Image Source- India Today

Dhairya Chhabra

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Campus Central

DU to Establish a Panel to Craft Guidelines for Review of SOL Study Material

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Addressing the shortcomings in the learning materials, Delhi University gears up to set up a committee overseeing the review and devising a framework for SOL’s learning material.

A four-member committee consisting of the South Campus director, Campus of Open Learning director, Dean of Academic Affairs, and the head of the English department will be notified by Monday or Tuesday, the official added.

As per the PTI reports, “The committee will oversee the review of the School of Open Learning’s self-learning material and formulate guidelines for review of the preparation of study materials in the future,” says Delhi University’s South Campus Director, Shri Prakash Singh.

The decision is a response after the Academic Council presented a report of self-learning material for approval but rejected it after a council member’s attention to grammatical, factual, and plagiarism errors in the materials.

Jesus and Mary College Assistant Professor Maya John pointed out some of the errors persisting in the study materials even after the conduct of a review procedure by the School of Open Learning.

“Approximately three lakh students enrolled in the School of Open Learning use these study materials with gross factual errors. One shudders to think what these students would learn from these poor-quality study materials and what their futures would be,” John said.

The decision evokes a reminiscent reflection of the past when students led by the Krantikari Yuva protested outside the Arts Faculty of Delhi University (North Campus) in August against the University and School of Open Learning (SOL) for approving sub-standard study materials with many errors. The study materials were approved despite nine elected members of the council being against it. 

The factual errors in the Political Science and Indian Politics papers had several discrepancies in both the English and Hindi versions. It encompassed inaccurate information about India gaining independence in 1945 (instead of 1947), the Indian Constitution being “formed” in 1994, and Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1967 (instead of 1964), among others.

In a response to PTI’s query on the problem, Payal Mago, Director of the School of Open Learning, responded by mentioning that the study materials undergo a review at different levels, including a final review by senior Delhi University professors.

The errors highlighted will be corrected in due course, she added.

Read Also: Atishi Points to “Irregularities” in 12 DU Colleges in Letter to Centre

Featured Image Source- Hindustan Times

Dhairya Chhabra

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DUB News

SOL students attacked and harassed during protests on Friday

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Two SOL students were attacked, harassed, and abused during the peaceful protests held in front of the SOL building on 18th February 2022. Read to find out more.

On the second day of the reopening of Delhi University colleges, that is, 18th February 2022, SOL (School of Open Learning) students along with Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) members staged a protest outside the SOL building in the North campus. 

 

The protestors raised their concern about the various problems that the SOL students were facing such as a lack of clarity on the status of the reopening of physical classes (academic counselling session), distribution of incomplete study material to first-year students, and a general lack of apathy of the administration towards SOL students. They also raised their concerns regarding the offline mode of examination for the fourth and sixth-semester students and urged the administration to reconsider the decision, taking into account the different backgrounds the students belong to and the difficulty they might face in coming to Delhi at such short notice.

These batches of students would be taking examinations in the physical mode for the first time without any grounding. People from across the country are enrolled in SOL and would find it impossible to come to Delhi for a physical mode examination. As such examinations should be conducted in Open Book Examination (OBE) format, and both online and physical modes should be offered,” demanded the press statement.

This is not the first time that SOL students are facing such a problem of lack of study material or ignorance of their concerns and demands by the administration. A similar situation arose during the December examinations when students demanded a postponement of exams due to a lack of printed resources and study materials.

 

This allegedly peaceful protest took a turn for the worse when, upon being called in, two students went into the SOL principal’s office to submit a memorandum of the protestor’s demands and were subsequently locked in, harassed, and beaten violently. Both parties ended up filing FIRs in the Maurice Nagar police station.

According to this report, two SOL students, Jatin and Bhim, were called into the SOL premises to meet the principal, Uma Shankar Pandey. They were accompanied by a police constable Vinay. Upon entering the premises, SOL guards allegedly locked the gates and started slapping and kicking the students without provocation. They were then taken into the principal’s office where 20 people gathered and started beating, harassing, and verbally abusing the students in front of the principal as well as the constable. After some time, they were allowed to leave the principal’s office but the gates were still closed. The students had to climb over the gate to escape and even called the police. 

One of the students, Jatin, also sustained an injury in the form of a fracture in his arm and had to be taken to Hindu Rao hospital where medical tests were done and MLC report was obtained.

They were pulling my jacket, my hair and constantly saying abusive things right in front of the principal who was just watching. The police constable was trying to defend us but he was outnumbered. They also snatched our mobile and said they will fail us in exam,” 

 

In his complaint to the police, SOL Officiating Principal Uma Shankar Pandey said, 

Some agitators entered the SOL building and misbehaved with female security guards and manhandled staff of SOL…. they threatened the SOL staff, and provoked other agitators to enter the premises…” 

He also claimed that “stern action” must be taken against them and tried to justify the SOL administration’s actions.

 

Following this, KYS demanded an immediate dismissal of the SOL principal as well as a public apology from the SOL as well as Delhi University in a press release dated 18.02.22.

KYS demands that DU must immediately sack the SOL Principal for his criminal conduct. DU and SOL must issue a public apology for this condemnable incident and adopt a zero-tolerance policy to ensure such an incident does not occur ever again. KYS condemns these dastardly attacks on students and pledges to intensify its movement for the educational rights of deprived and marginalised students,” stated Bhim Kumar, a member of KYS, through the medium of the press release.

 

A similar stand was also taken by Abha Dev Habib, secretary, Democratic Teacher’s Front (DTF), condemning this attack on the students and demanding an inquiry into the same.

The fact that students were violently attacked in the Principal’s Office with the direct involvement of SOL Officials is extremely unfortunate. DTF condemns this criminal attack on students in no uncertain terms. Peaceful protests and demands of students cannot be handled in this manner. When there is zero tolerance for physical assault on students, are the SOL students being treated in this manner as they come from marginalized backgrounds? University should set up an inquiry into the incidence and take action.”

 

Read also ‘DU Reopening Protests: Plan of Action Day 3’

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Manasvi Kadian

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DU SOL Postpones Annual Examinations for B.com and B.A Courses

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Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (DU SOL) has postponed the annual mode examinations for the students of B.Com and B.A. (Prog) courses due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

An official notice on the DU SOL website, uploaded on 25th March declares a postpone in the annual examinations of B.Com and B.A.(Prog) courses. As per the previous date sheet the examinations for B.Com and B.A (Prog) courses, were respectively scheduled from 4th and 5th April which now stands withdrawn till any further notice. The students are advised to regularly check the official website for the upload of the revised date sheet.

The official notice on the website reads, “In accordance with the office order No. F.No. Estab.II(i)/330/COVID-19/M/2020 dated 19th March, 2020, the examination of B .Com. (Annual Mode) scheduled to be held from 4th April, 2020 and B.A. (Prog.) (Annual Mode) scheduled to be held from 5th April, 2020 stands withdrawn. The date-sheet for both the above examination will be notified later. All concerned are requested to please stay connected through website for latest updates.”

Riyansh Gupta, a first-year student of B.Com (Prog) course, “We already have to cope with the first and second semester simultaneously and further delays are just increasing the burden. But, in this current situation delay was obvious and much needed so we can’t do anything except for just waiting for the situation to get better.”

He further informed of DU SOL of not being very responsible for passing important information. He said, “One other thing is that DU SOL does not know how to communicate with its students, every time anything happens, DU SOL is the last to respond plus the official site is also not that good.”

Feature Image credits : DU Beat Archives

Kriti  Gupta

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Friend Kills DU Student Who Harassed Niece

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The gruesome tale of the murder of a student of Delhi University (DU). Read more to find out.

Dhirendra Charan, a resident of Faridabad City was arrested by Faridabad Police on Monday. This arrest was related to the murder of Sandeep Vaishnav, a 25-year student, studying in School of Open Learning, Delhi University.

According to the police, Dhirendra had killed Sandeep after he found out that his niece was being harassed by Sandeep. Hence, with a feeling of vengeance, the accused invited the victim for some drinks and later killed him. Sandeep’s parents had also told the police that he had informed them about his meeting with Dhirendra before leaving. The body was spotted by some locals near an old factory at IMT Industrial Area in Faridabad.

In his confession, Dhirendra pleaded guilty and stated that after some drinks in his Santro car, he hit Dhirendra on his head with a baton, thus, knocking him unconscious. Following this, Dhirendra ran over the body with his car and then dumped the dead body near an old factory. The police under the command of CIA DLF Inspector Sajiv, nabbed the accused from Sahupura which is around 17 kilometres from the site of the murder. Dhirendra had fled to Sahupura after he killed Sandeep. When the police caught him, the accused was under the influence of alcohol.

The Faridabad Police was able to catch the accused within six hours after the body was spotted. The police have stated that Dhirendra has been charged with the appropriate IPC Sections for murder and further investigation is underway. Sandeep used to live with his parents in Faridabad.

Featured Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Aniket Singh Chauhan

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Campus Central

DU SOL Panel to Check For Errors in Study Material

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Upon the directions of the Honourable Delhi High Court, DU’s SOL has formed a subject-wise committee to review the study material distributed to students. 

Since the beginning of this year’s odd-semester, the University of Delhi (DU) affiliated School of Open Learning (SOL) has faced many issues pertaining to admissions, curriculum and academics related fronts. 

In the most recent turn of events, the administration of the School has appointed a subject-wise committee to review the study material distributed to students as a part of their curricula. This move comes into the picture after the college administration had been addressed with complaints by the students that the material provided to them by the School, for their classes, was of poor quality and not reliable in terms of its content. 

Hence, upon the directions of the Honourable High Court of Delhi, a committee has been appointed by the institution to look into the matter. The court’s judgment had called for a review of the material. Earlier the court had also put a stay on the December exam to be held for over one lakh students currently enrolled at SOL. This year, the University converted SOL from the annual mode to the semester system and the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). The administration has even formed a committee to address the grievances of the students enrolled under the CBCS. The committee will suggest remedies that need to be implemented. 

Students alleged that the study material was full of errors and most of it had been prepared by simply bifurcating the material that had been prescribed in the previous system of annual mode. The Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, which had led these protests against the study material has also affirmed the presence of errors in the same. 

Saurabh, a first year student of B.Com. at SOL says, “It is great that the SOL is finally taking steps to bring our studies back on track…things are still uncertain though.”

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Bhavya Pandey

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High Court Orders Stay on Semester Exams for SOL Students

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After protests by School of Open Learning (SOL) students against cancelled classes and lack of study material, The Delhi High Court (HC) orders a stay on semester exams scheduled in December for SOL students.

SOL had decided to implement the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) from the academic session 2019-20. This change meant that SOL would move into the system which other Delhi University (DU) colleges follow, with exams at the end of every semester instead of annual exams. The hasty and ill-implemented nature of this decision led to several problems such as lack of study material, incomplete syllabus in most honours courses, and cancelled classes.

The initiative which may have been well-intended, was poorly implemented. On 17th November 2019, SOL students came out to protest against the Vice Chancellor (VC) for the same. The protest was in the form of a funeral march for the VC. They had also held a protest outside the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) where they had tonsured their hair and sent it to the Union HRD minister, Delhi Education Minister, UGC, DU, and SOL authorities as a symbolic representation of how they had been orphaned by the authorities.

On 5th November, four student activists had moved the court regarding this matter and their plea was accepted by the Delhi HC. The HC has ordered a stay on the December examinations in SOL by the University. The University will now hold both semester examinations at the end of the second semester, much like the method that was followed in SOL before the implementation of CBCS this academic session.

The students in a statement reported by the Times of India said, “Delhi High Court took DU on all the irregularities and violations evident in the manner in which CBCS has been implemented. Apart from pushing back of November-December exams, the University has to report to an annual nodal officer on the preparations made for the smooth running of the CBCS program in SOL.”

However, SOL director CS Dubey said that the University gave suggestions to the courts. A senior official goes on to say, “If IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) conducts exams of two semesters together, so can we. We have tried our best to make sure that SOL students should be at par with regular students. But some organisations wanted to disrupt that. There are many students who still want to give the exam in December this year.” They point out that exams in December would mean that will have to burden their resources, as different papers will have to be prepared and the number of days extended.

 

(With excerpts from the Times Of India)

 

 Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

 

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SOL Students Protest Against Application of CBCS

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On 17th November, Sunday, students of School of Open Learning (SOL) held a funeral march to symbolise the death of the varsity’s Vice Chancellor (VC) for them, and sent tonsured hair to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) to protest against the hasty implementation of the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) system in SOL. 

On 17th November 2019, the students of DU’s School of Open Learning (SOL) took out a funeral march from the main gate of the Arts Faculty to the VC house, symbolising his death for the students of School of Open Learning (SOL). The students carried an effigy of the VC in a funeral procession, with slogans that read Annyay VC ki shavyatra (Unfair VC’s funeral procession) and SOL aur Regular mein degree ki samanta hee nahi, suvidhaon ki bhi do (Provide equal opportunities to regular courses and SOL, and not just equal degrees). The march was organised by the students and the KYS against the ‘bulldozed’implementation of the CBCS/ Semester system by DU for the students of SOL. 

In a press statement released on Sunday, the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), mentioned, “Classes are suspended while more than half of the Honours courses remain incomplete; thus destroying the future of first-year SOL students, who have to appear for the CBCS examination later this November. Not only is the syllabus incomplete, the SOL students are yet to be provided with their complete study material. SOL is so unprepared that till now even the study material which has to be mandatorily provided to the students has not been made available to the majority. All this while the exams are due this very month. Also, even though lacs of students have taken admission this year in SOL, the study centres are almost empty because no information has been provided to them.”

The students of SOL had held a massive protest at the MHRD as well, where they had tonsured their hair and sent it to the Union HRD Minister, Delhi Education Minister, UGC, DU, and SOL authorities to assert that they felt orphaned, and were thus sending their tonsured hair as offerings of symbolic sacrifice. The students have made an appeal to the High Court of Delhi and had also protested against University Grants Commission (UGC), demanding its immediate intervention for the roll-back of the new CBCS curriculum and semester mode. 

“The entire situation is chaos. Even though the idea of lessening the parity between regular colleges and distant learning is a good initiative, its implementation is terrible. We don’t know the syllabus, classes are empty and without the proper study material, the teachers don’t know what to teach in classes either. We’ve been completely abandoned by the authorities, despite continually reaching out. The University decided to introduce the CBCS system with no preparation and now we have to sit for semester exams that SOL wasn’t even prepared for. This is our future, and the University doesn’t seem to care at all,” Mrinal Yadav, a B.Com. student at SOL told DU Beat. 

Expressing concern over this issue, several teachers have written to the University visitor, President Ram Nath Kovind, calling for the postponement of the exams and rolling back of the semester system for this year. “We have been observing the growing agitation of SOL students and the high handedness with which the University is circumventing to their objections regarding the manner in which the system has been introduced,” the letter to the President said. It was said to be signed by about 100 teachers. A review of the study materials provided, upon which distance education students mostly rely, showed that they were “full of errors” and not a product of academic protocols, they wrote in the letter. The teachers also raised issues about the way the new system was introduced, arguing that it was “bulldozed” through the University’s statutory bodies.

Feature Image Credits: KYS

Shreya Juyal

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SOL to Have an Online Module for its Students

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The School of Open Learning (SOL), Delhi University (DU) is all set to introduce its online teaching programme to aid students from 1st November.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has requested SOL  to upload Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) for B.A. Programme, B.Com (Honours), B.Com Programme and B.A English (Honours) for the first semester.

This comes after the Governing Body made this decision in a prior meeting. The faculty of DU had been requested to submit the proposal for the same. It was earlier approved by the Executive Council of DU.

The motion of online courses was put forward by 22 universities, but UGC gave consent to only four which includes DU.

A “four-quadrant approach” has been suggested under UGC guidelines. This includes video and audio tutorials, open access web content, self-assessment techniques like MCQs, among others. Availability of reading material, in the form of e-books or PDFs, has also been suggested.

The University website provided instructions on making these modules on Tuesday, abiding with the guidelines which state to incorporate video lectures, classroom presentations, small movies, documentaries, fieldwork, virtual experimental learning, gaming, and short question and answers.

It also states that these must be in accordance with the government’s SWAYAM guidelines.

“We have developed a special system, which includes live streaming of lectures. Our teachers have already developed the lectures. We have also hired special tutors and interns,” said Mr CS Dubey, Director of SOL, as reported by Jagran Josh.

SOL is also planning to partially conduct its examination online. The institution had applied for approval to offer online courses in January this year, after the UGC Gazette Notification dated 4th July 2018, prescribing the regulations that shall apply to a university conducting open learning classes.

 

Feature Image credits: College Duniya

 

 Stephen Mathew

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DU Student Fakes Own Kidnapping

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Late 6th October night, a father received a purported video of his daughter on WhatsApp with her hands and legs tied with repeated cries of “mujhe chhor do”. A case was registered in the Adarsh Nagar police station.

A first-year correspondence student from Delhi University (DU) left her home in Adarsh Nagar on Sunday to attend classes at a DU college, but instead, she went to Purana Quila with her friends. She lied to her father over the phone stating she was outside her college. He demanded to show him the college building on a video call. She panicked and hung up after which she avoided her parents’ calls and spent the night ahead at her friend’s house. 

Fearing that her parents would discover her bunking college, and scold her for the same, the 18-year-old orchestrated her own kidnapping. Late Sunday night, the father received a purported video of his daughter on WhatsApp with her hands and legs tied with repeated cries of “mujhe chhor do” (leave me). A case under IPC Section 365 (kidnapping) was registered in the Adarsh Nagar police station. The girl’s phone was put under technical surveillance, while teams were formed to look for her. 

Her parents received a call from a passerby in Old Delhi’s Ballimaran area on Monday stating that their daughter was crying on the street. However, she had asked the man to call them up. 

While questioning, she alleged to the police that she was kidnapped by four-five men on Sunday evening who took her to a jungle. “She couldn’t point out the location and said that at night when the men slept off, she escaped. When she was prodded a bit more, she confessed that she had made up the story,” said DCP (North West) Vijayanta Arya to The Indian Express. The woman made a video of herself in distress with hands and legs tied with the help of a friend. 

A similar incident took place in Mumbai, March 2018 when a Class IX student faked his kidnapping and sexual assault after bunking to escape punishment from his parents and school. 

Feature Image Credits: Metronation

Anandi Sen

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