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DU Introduces 5 New Online Courses

By DU Beat October 4, 2019

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted approval to the University of Delhi (DU) to start five online courses, that would be made public from January 2020.

On 1st October 2019, the University of Delhi got the green light to conduct five online undergraduate courses by the UGC from January 2020 by the School of Open Learning (SoL). The courses provided by DU will be made made available for five subjects: B.A. Programme, B.A. (Hons.) English, B.A. (Hons.) Political Science, B.Com, and B. Com (Hons.).

An official from UGC spoke to NDTV and said that SOL will upload the learning materials on its website by November this year and start enrolling students in the program from January 2020. The courses will be made available for students in India as well as those abroad, and are being introduced to attract global students to study at the University of Delhi.

The letter of intent (LoI) was issued by the UGC to the university on 16th September 2019, as reported by DNA India.

“These courses actually belong to the School of Open Learning (SOL) but by January they will become online courses and will be available all around the world,” a senior official was quoted by a news daily.

“One of the officials of the Delhi University said that the proposal of online courses was put forward by 22 universities but UGC gave permission to only four universities out of which the Delhi University is one,” the report said.

Dr CS Dubey, Director of the Campus of SOL, said that the online courses will be available not just in India, but students from any country can take admission in the courses. Earlier, Dubey had also said that the DU is planning to conduct 30 per cent of its exams online in a phased manner.

Students too appreciated this. Sabaa, a second year B.A. (Hons.) English said, “I think it is a great opportunity being offered by the University. Not only is it good for integrating DU in the global educational structure, every year the cut-offs become impossible to achieve. This way, those who didn’t clear the cut-offs or are outstation students without the means to move to Delhi for studying, can also enrol in the University. “

Students can look for further details at du.ac.in, the university’s official website.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives.

Shreya Juyal

DU’s SOL Shifts to Shift 2.0

By Kartik Chauhan September 23, 2019

With approximately 1.5 lac students enrolling every year in the various courses provided by the University, Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) aims to offer correspondence courses with no mandatory attendance against the regular courses of the University.

The continual shortage of classrooms, faculties, and other facilities has continued to hinder the progress of the University and its students. Only recently, after switching to the semester mode of education, SOL is set to conduct all classes on Saturdays as well.

Despite three weeks since the inception of this academic session, the administration has only been able to carry sixty percent of the total classes, as opposed to previous years, where the turnout corresponded to only 10-20% of students, the number exceeded to about 30-40% in 2019, making the situation difficult for the administration, as claimed by Professor Ramesh Bhardwaj, Officer on Special Duty in SOL.

Professor Bhardwaj further quoted that the shift in the system from an annual mode to a semester mode has contribued to the problems all the more. Where the annual mode classes would have begun in October or November, the new semester mode, adopted by the SOL has pushed the timeline much forward than planned, for the first-time the students of the SOL will be studying under the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS), which will bring their courses on par with regular curriculum.

However, right from the start of the course, regular protests are being held by members of KYS, and other student organisations, expressing their grievance against the authorities in different parts of the University. Classes are being cancelled regularly and many times at the last minute, causing wastage of student’s time & energy.

“We don’t mind the CBCS system being implemented, but they [administration] are clearly not prepared for it,” says Aarti Khush Wahab, a first-year student at SOL.

The administration has further announced the dates for the examination to be in the first week of November, what with the inconsistent classes and inadequate study material, worsening the situation for the students.

In response to issues mentioned above, the administration plans to hold classes in double shifts, Professor Bhardwaj said. Currently there are about 30 centres alloted to SOL for holding classes, the administration requires 70 more in near future. The step seems promising but its effectiveness seems to be a big question.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Faizan Salik

DU SOL Students Protest Against Cancellation of Classes

By Sakshi Arora September 17, 2019

Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) students protested at various education centres on Sunday, following cancellation of classes for two consecutive weeks.

A students’ group belonging to the School Of Open Learning staged protests across many colleges of the Delhi University (DU), that act as study centres, causing huge chaos at these institutions. The students were protesting against the cancellation of Personal Contact Programme (PCP) classes for two consecutive weeks. According to the students, the classes were cancelled without any prior notice of intimation regarding the same to the students. The protests were organised in Gargi College, located in South Campus as well as Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, located in Shahdara on Sunday, September 15th. At Gargi College, female students surrounded the entrance gate and blocked the road, in protest against cancellation of classes.

Besides the classes being cancelled, SOL students also face problems of inadequate study material, and denial to entry in their study centres. According to the students, the classes were cancelled last week as well.

Moreover, the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) alleged the classes of B.A. Programme students were cancelled on Sunday at all SOL centres without the SOL administration informing students. “Thousands of first year students from B.A. Programme had reached their centres in the morning, as early as 8 am, but were forced to return after being told that classes for Sunday stood cancelled. Thousands and thousands of students who reached their centres were left clueless as to where to take classes after they were abruptly cancelled,” The classes have been cancelled due to “unpreparedness of SOL administration in implementing Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) curriculum from this year,” it asserted.

KYS had also said it will organise a protest demonstration at SOL Building in North Campus during the coming week. In response, Professor C.S. Dubey, Director of SOL, said, “B.A. programme classes were not scheduled for this Sunday. The classes of B.Com were scheduled for this Sunday.” Dubey also informed that SOL is likely to complete all the necessary arrangements and commence B.A. classes from next week onwards. The delay is being caused due to the change in the SOL curriculum in accordance with the latest Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) of the Varsity.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Bhavya Pandey

Admissions 2019

DU SOL Students Can Now Shift to Regular Colleges in Second Year

By Kartik Chauhan September 4, 2019

As per reports, CBCS curriculum being adopted at SOL and NCWEB allows students to shift to vacant seats in courses in regular colleges in their second year. SOL also introduces new changes in online learning.

Students from the School of Open Learning (SOL) and Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB) of the University of Delhi (DU) will now be able to take admission in regular colleges in their second year of Undergraduate study.

This move has been brought about by the introduction of the Credit Based Curriculum System (CBCS) at these open learning institutions, which entails that the students at SOL and NCWEB will also be studying the same curriculum as the regular college students. Under this CBCS system, a new curriculum has been introduced for students in the distance learning mode along with options of choosing elective courses which were earlier available only in regular mode.

Director, SOL, Chandra Shekhar Dubey in conversation with the Indian Express said, “Every year, there are several seats that are left vacant in the second year due to a candidate leaving, failing to pass, or changing their college. Each college thereafter releases a cut-off of marks required to fill those seats. Students making it through the cut-off will have to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from both colleges (the one they are shifting from and the one seeking transfer too) and their seat will be shifted. They can also seek transfer from one college to another, in the same mode.”

The SOL will also hold online classes for students, through their respective online dashboards, along with webinars and chat-based counselling sessions. The institute is aiming to hire two thousand new Personal Contact Programme (PCP) counsellors. They will hold counselling online and offline and will also create and disseminate the content material for their respective subjects. With the aim of making the SOL system blended-learning-based, the study material and library access to online classes along with doubt-resolution will also be made available to students online, making the entire process of open learning easier for students through the aide of technology.

Over five lakh students who are associated with the Delhi University’s open learning courses will be affected by these changes.

Image Credits: SOL Website

Bhavya Pandey

[email protected]

DUB News

University of Delhi’s SOL students call off Hunger Strike.

By DU Beat August 24, 2019

The students from the School of Open Learning (SOL) ended their hunger strike on Thursday after a meeting was proposed by the SOL authorities.

The students and activists of the Krantikari Yuva Sanagathan (KYS) undertook a hunger strike to oppose the implementation of Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), which was to be introduced in SOL in the current academic session. The strike, which commenced on Tuesday, ended as a meeting was proposed by the authorities to resolve these issues.

As reported earlier, the decision to introduce semester system was taken during an emergency meeting of the University’s Executive Council (EC) on Saturday, 17th August 2019, but four members recorded their dissent to the idea.

Akansha, a B.Com student from SOL said, “Government ne article 370 hataane se pehle nahi pucha SOL kya cheez hai? (Government did not ask before scrapping article 370, what is SOL compared to that?)

In 2015, DU had decided to drop annual examinations and paved way for the semester examinations for all its regular colleges under CBCS. However, SOL was exempted since there were no regular classes for these students. The students only had a single examination in May as opposed to two exams during the months of November and May. The latest decision would bring SOL at par with regular colleges.

This decision faced a lot of backlash from the students as it was implemented in haste and the material of the annual mode of exam had already been distributed. Until a few days ago, students of were studying the same annual mode syllabus.

As reported by Outlook India, on Thursday, the students attempted to return their academic books but they were refused by the SOL authorities. Subsequently, in protest, they dumped their materials outside the SOL building, which lead to the management of SOL calling a meeting with the delegates.

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

Stephen Mathew

Students of SOL Protest Against Introducing CBCS System

By Anoushka Sharma August 21, 2019

The students from School of Open Learning have started an indefinite hunger strike against the University of Delhi regarding the decision of introducing the Choice Based Credit System from this year onwards.

On Monday, 19th August, 2019, students of School of Open Learning (SOL) along with activists from Krantikari Yuva Sangathan held a protest at Arts Faculty, University of Delhi. They have also launched an indefinite hunger strike from Tuesday, 20^th August 2019.

The University of Delhi (DU) recently decided to implement the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) in the School of Open Learning and Non-Collegiate Woman Education Board (NCWEB), removing the existing annual mode. The University has decided to change the syllabus of these institutions after 12 years. The decision was taken during an emergency meeting of the University’s Executive Council (EC) on Saturday, 17^th August 2019, but four members recorded their dissent to the idea.

In 2015, DU had decided to drop annual examinations and paved way for the semester examinations for all its regular colleges under CBCS. SOL and NCWEB were exempted since there were no regular classes for these students. The latest decision will bring the two institutions at par with regular colleges. However, the decision has faced backlash by people even before it was implemented. Members of Academic Council questioned the implementation of the programme. Questions relating to the semester system and examinations were also raised.Around 1.5 lakh students are enrolled in SOL and NCWEB has more than 2000 students in the institution, making it a dire issue affecting the future of many.

This decision is being highly criticised because of the following reasons:

The decision has been implemented in haste. “This is a very welcome step but the way DU is planning to implement the scheme in a hurry will harm the students. This will also face legal issues as the varsity has invited applications and conducting admissions as per the previous method i.e., annual pattern,” said Pankaj Garg former member of the Academic Council.

The material of the annual mode of exam has already been distributed. What is more shocking is that until a few days ago, students of SOL and NCWEB were studying the same annual mode syllabus. “Study material of annual mode and old syllabus has also been distributed. If we change the system now, there is going to be increased expenditure” said Rajesh Jha, EC member. “The university will distribute online material but half of the students enrolled in SOL are coming from economically weaker sections and many do not have computers at home,” Jha added.

The students who preferred choosing the annual mode over CBCS weren’t given a choice to express their consent. Janmejoy Khuntia, SOL Staff Council Secretary, said, “While the CBCS system is welcome, students have paid fees in annual mode so it may be unfair to ask them to switch. The university must look at the implementation and avoid haste.” Khuntia further added that as per the University Act, it is the Academic Council which should decide upon the conduct of examination.

A major change like this will also affect staff requirement as well staff training. Lack of preparation there could hamper the education of these students.“Since the workload would increase, the staff should also be increased. We are exploring possibilities to develop a third examination branch in the lines of south Delhi campus examination branch under the Campus of Open Learning (COL) to undertake these responsibilities,” a senior DU official said requesting anonymity.

The students of SOL programme would have to face a more rigid and harsh schedule as while NCWEB students and SOL honours students will have their examination with regular students. Other than them, their tests will be conducted after regular classes end and before their examination begins and also during the interval following the completion of regular examinations.

Bringing a contrapositive opinion, another member of EC as well as officiating Director of NCWEB, Geeta Bhatt said, “Obviously the university is implementing the scheme with proper and articulated planning. Further, admissions are still going in the SOL, NCWEB and even in some regular colleges.”

Feature Image Credits: Jagran Josh

Chhavi Bahmba

SOL and NCWEB to Have Semester System from the Current Academic Session

By DU Beat August 18, 2019

The Executive Council of the University of Delhi (DU) has approved the semester system for the School of Open Learning (SOL) and Non-Collegiate Women Education Board (NCWEB) starting from the current academic session.

The Executive Council of DU was called on Saturday to discuss the introduction of semester system in the SOL and NCWEB, and it has decided to introduce the semester system from this academic session.

The SOL and NCWEB are currently following the aannual system in which the exams are conducted in the month of May.

It was decided in an earlier meeting that the Choice Based Semester System (CBCS) would be introduced in these two institutions from the academic session of 2019-2020.

The semester system would enable these two verticals to be identical to regular colleges.

Some officials expressed dissent, as they felt that this move has been taken in a hurry and would affect the students who have enrolled on an annual basis as classes have begun and the study material has also been handed over.

Akansha, who is a B.Com. student in SOL, seemed disappointed and had this to say- ”There are mainly three reasons for choosing correspondence, those who choose it for convenience and do not have time for regular classes would be pissed as this defeats the purpose and who cannot afford regular education or do not have enough marks to get onto a regular college. I am pissed.”

SOL enables the students to enrol themselves in various courses and programs without being physically present to attend classes unlike other colleges in DU.

This means that students enrolled in undergraduate honours courses will have their examinations under the Central Examination Centre, since SOL offers very few honours courses. Notifications for the schedule of examinations and filing of forms for the students of NCWEB shall be along with regular semester students. Whereas semester exams for non-honours students would be undertaken by SOL.

The annual system only has one examination whereas the semester system has two examinations during the months of December and May.

The fee structure also varies as semester system requires fee payment to be done in two instalments unlike the annual system with single payment.

The SOL, which was founded in 1962, is one of the largest distance education institute in the country with over five lakh students in its fold, and around one and a half lakh students enrolled annually.

NCWEB, which is exclusive to women, provides weekend to females residing in the national capital.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Stephen Mathew

DUB Speak

SOL Students Protest Against the Absence of Classes

By DU Beat November 10, 2018

In lieu of the absence of classes and study material for the approaching exams, students of SOL are distressed.

The School of Open Learning (SOL) faces a crisis as students remain in angst due to the absence of notes and proper scheduled classes. The classes for the session of 2018-19 are set to commence soon enough. The Executive Director of SOL, H.C. Pokhriyal, said in a recent interview to The Indian Express, “We have been able to complete our admissions only by 20th October, which is why classes have not started yet, but they will start soon”.

The SOL website has already added the portal for acceptance of examination forms, without a proper commencement of the academic session. Colleges under Delhi University will commence their examinations from 28th November 2018. Mr. Pokhriyal further explains that the admission process usually begins by June and extends till August. However, this year, the process began in August itself, as a result of which there was a delay. Students should be able to pick up the material from 12th November and classes would begin soon. Usually, the classes commence in September. The admission process for SOL is similar to that of other colleges associated with the varsity. The examinations are also conducted by Delhi University. The course structure is also alike, for the school as well as other constituent colleges.

The annual examinations occur in April. However, the strange thing is the fact that students still do not have their study materials. The study material is given immediately after the admission, as explained by the Staff Council Secretary of SOL, J.Khuntia. At present, more than four and a half lakh students are enrolled at the UG and PG level. Almost all of the processes are handled by the online Students Information and Management System. Several students do not have proper access to the e-resources and do not have a sense of clarity about the study patterns. The official website is showcasing study materials for the second semester and beyond, thereby creating more confusion. Authorities should give directions to the students in lieu of the approaching exams.

Feature Image Credits: The School of Open Learning

Avnika Chhikara

[email protected]

News

School Of Open Learning Hesitant To Spend On Digital Learning

By Radhika Boruah October 24, 2017

The governing body of University of Delhi’s School of Open Learning (SOL) has decided that it cannot afford to spend Rs 10 lakh to facilitate digital learning for around 1,800 poor students.

Last year, the annual interest and fee income of the institution was around Rs. 45 crores. Even after making capital amounts of Rs. 473 crores, SOL is reluctant to spend a meagre amount in the name of the underprivileged students. As sources revealed, the SOL spends around Rs. 15 crores on printing study materials every year. But on September 29, the governing board at its meeting refused to sanction Rs 10 lakh that would have facilitated distribution of tablets (each estimated to cost around Rs. 5000 each) among the needy students of the school.

SOL came up with a project to provide tablets to 1,849 students from the below-poverty-line section to enable them access to the school’s digital platform and e-resources. SOL’s governing body shot down the idea because it decided that “corporate social responsibility is not required of an educational institution”. CS Dubey, chairman of Campus of Open Learning, has written to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to intervene and allow the use of funds for the initiative. Dubey highlighted the Government of India’s initiative Swayam, pushing for a digital platform in education. Here students could access learning materials on tablets through initiatives like SOL’s own 101 video lectures and SGTB Khalsa College’s 100 MOOC lectures. Indeed, without digital intervention, economically disadvantaged students would miss out on various e-resources available to SOL.

Revealing about Dubey’s letter to MHRD, an official said, “The letter states that despite the huge unused funds, the plan to help poor students with tablets customised for SOL’s indigenous learning management system that is already in operation- was not sympathetically considered at the special governing board meeting.” Though Dubey refused to comment on his letter to the ministry, he said that while SOL is striving to develop the flipped-classroom technology by giving more importance to virtual/ audio-visual teaching-learning followed by activity/skill-based experiential learning, it is “important to offer information and communication technology tools to the students from a financially weaker background for inclusive education”.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Radhika Boruah