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A recent notification released by University Grants Commission (UGC) states that no Higher Educational Institution can retain the original certificates of the students before the admission is confirmed. It also stated that the institutions will have to refund the fees or a part of it if the candidate decides to withdraw his/her admission.

On Wednesday, 10^th October 2018, Prakash Javedkar, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, held a press conference in New Delhi addressing the issue of admission withdrawal and certificate verification at the higher educational institutions.

According to the notification, the students would not be required to submit original certificates like mark sheets, character certificate, migration certificate etc. at the time of admission in college. The institution can only verify the abovementioned certificates and these certificates shall be returned to the student immediately. No university can take any original academic or personal certificates into their custody. The UGC has stated that the notification is an effort to help students who have been facing problems during admissions due to coercive and profiteering institutional practices.

Javedkar further announced that if a candidate withdraws his/her admission 15 days prior to the formally stipulated last date of admission, he/she would get a full refund of the fees. Colleges can only charge five percent of the total fees subject to a maximum of INR 5000 as the processing fees. As reported by Times of India, the students would get a 90 percent refund in case they decide to withdraw within 15 days of the notified last admission date, 80 percent refund will be allocated within 15 days after the last date of admission. In case a student decides to withdraw between the 16th day and 30th day after the formally notified last date of admission, 50 percent refund of the fees will be provided. The UGC also decided that no refund will be initiated after 30 days of last day of admission. The refund of fees shall be made by the Higher Educational Institutions within 15 days of receipt of a written application from the student.

Furthermore, no Higher Educational Institute can make it compulsory for the candidate to purchase the prospectus at any time during the course of study. The UGC has directed all the institutions to disclose on their prospectus and website, information regarding the status of the institutions, its affiliation, accreditation status, physical assets and amenities, course-wise sanctioned intake of students, various types of fees payable for different programmes, total fees payable for an entire programme, last date of admission, details of faculty, members of Governing Bodies, and minutes of the meeting of bodies, sources of income, financial situation and any other information about its functioning, necessary for an applicant to make a fully informed choice.

It will be mandatory for all the institutions to have a Grievance Redressal Mechanism, according to the provisions of the UGC Grievance Redressal Regulations, 2012. This GRM shall be available on the website of the institution and they will be required to ensure that all grievances received are addressed within 30 days.

DU Beat contacted a DUTA member, but she was not available for a comment.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Anoushka Sharma

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(With inputs from TOI)

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UGC prepares new Psychology syllabi, says current curriculum “not rooted in the national ethos.”

By Niharika Dabral October 10, 2017

On 5th October UGC released a letter that suggested the universities to adopt new model Psychology syllabi at B.A/B.Sc, M.A/M.Sc and PhD levels.

The letter sent and addressed to vice-chancellors of all universities said, “It had been noticed that Psychology, as taught in institutions of higher learning was neither keeping pace with the recent developments in the discipline nor fulfilling the societal needs. The prevalent course contents commonly taught in the classroom were not rooted in the national ethos. UGC, therefore, constituted a Committee of Experts to look into different aspects of teaching and research in Psychology besides drawing upon the considerable work that is underway for the purposes of developing vibrant model syllabi for different levels.”

Further, it added that the new curriculum made by the Expert Committee took the latest developments in the field of Psychology into consideration and new syllabus has given special relevance to the Indian context of discipline.

The brief letter did not mention who the members of the Expert Committee are which raises many questions. Such as who are the committee members, what were the selection criteria, and on what basis did they conclude that the prevailing course content is unsatisfactory.

While talking to DU Beat, Dr Gayatri Arunkuma, a Psychology professor at Indraprastha College for Women, denied the claims of UGC and asserted that “The current CBCS syllabus has a lot of Indian perspective on psychology in both theory and practical papers. We also refer to several research publications and textbooks focussing on the Indian perspective in Psychology Honors course in DU. So, our curriculum is, in fact, rooted in national ethos as we are teaching a new updated in 2014 syllabus.”

She further added, “UGC being an important institution could perhaps initiate a more democratic exercise on Psychology syllabus revision, where all psychology faculties can email their views n issues.”

The commission has asked affiliated colleges and universities go through the new syllabus, which is available on the official website, and introduce it in the current course. However, as of now, there is no new syllabus published on the UGC website. We tried to contact Mr.P.K. Thakur, Secretary and Financial Assistant of UGC who also wrote the letter on the commission’s behalf, but all our calls to his office remained unattended.

Picture Credits: The University Grants Commission
Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

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DCW seeks UGC’s response on the Hindu College Girls’ Hostel Issue

By DU Beat August 26, 2017

After weeks of protests being organised at Hindu College due to the availability and facilities of the girls hostel, the Delhi Commission for Women has sought UGC’s response.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued fresh summons to the University Grants Commission (UGC), for the latter failed to respond to the earlier ones, say the members of the DCW. On the issue of the girls’ hostel of Hindu College, the DWC stood alongside the students who were protesting day and night. They sought a reply from the former as to there was a Rs. 30,000 difference in the fees of the girls’ and the boys’ hostel. This move was adopted after the panel had repeatedly written to the UGC seeking answers regarding the discriminatory hostel fee for the University as a whole, but they were not obliged with a response.

Protests have been circumventing the College for the past few days. They started with the students having foundational demands like reduction of fees for the girls’ hostel, similar curfew timings and rules in comparison to the boys’ hostel, the formation of a Student Council for them (like the one that exists in the boys’ Hostel) for facilitating communication between the administration and the students. The umbrella goal for these gatherings was to lobby for a clearly chalked out transparent admission process, where allotment of seats in the hostel would be made according to a cut-off list while maintaining the reserved seats for different categories.

The Commission also complained of many colleges within the University not having hostel for girls, making it even more difficult for them to come to Delhi and receive education. The girls who do come here are forced to live as paying guests in accommodations provided by private individuals who charge them exorbitantly.

The student protestors, apart from demanding equality in terms of rules and fees, also demanded an explanation as to why, after such long 117 years of the existence of the college, the authorities realised that girls also study here and they do need a roof under which they can stay. It is alarming that the realisation of the necessity of accommodation dawned upon them after decades, and yet the provision offered remains unaffordable to more than half of the population of this country.

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India

Ananya Bhardwaj

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