Psychology, Journalism, Geography among others are not available to men in DU. Despite being popular choices, male aspirants need to turn to alternate universities to pursue these courses.
University of Delhi (DU) gains as much criticism as is the prestige around its colleges. With the cut offs rising so fast students invest their all to ensure they can secure a seat in a top college. Is it possible for some to lose in this race even before they begin? Or for some students to win the race but not the prize?
This is the fate of men wanting to pursue courses such as Psychology, Journalism, Geography and Sociology in DU. These and several other courses are only offered in girls’ colleges or in very few co-ed colleges, which has gained the University a lot of criticism. It then becomes a matter of approaching different Universities or choosing a college among the few that offer the course of choice.
Journalism is only available to men in three colleges including Delhi School of Journalism, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce and Maharaja Agrasen College. Among the 16 colleges for Philosophy, ten colleges are for women, leaving St Stephens, Hindu College, Ramanaujan College and few others for male aspirants.
Sociology is available in only two colleges- Hindu and Sri Venkateshawara College. Psychology is offered to men in Zakir Hussain, Keshav Mahavidyalaya and Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College.
Geography is offered in co-ed colleges such as Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Dyal Singh College, Kirori Mal College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Shivaji College and Swami Shardhanand College.
Home Science not offered to boys in any of the 90 colleges in DU. Some of these courses are included in BA Programme and are offered as minor or General Elective courses. But this means the students will have to compromise on an Honours degree in the subject they love.
These courses remain restricted to girl’s colleges and our education system remains regressive.
Rishabh Kumar, a student of Psychology from Christ University expressed his grievance, “This is an appalling scenario for an institution like Delhi University. Since we are transcending the biological differences that did exist, a decision of that sort needs to be revised. It’s unimaginable to exist in an environment where comprehension of knowledge is limited to certain gender.”
Raunaq of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College commented, “For me it was a choice between Political Science and Psychology as my major. The latter was offered in only few colleges, where I was not keen on studying, therefore I went ahead with Political Science. I do believe I am one of the lucky ones as compared to the guys who only want to do Psychology.”
Turning to private universities also means a huge increase in the annual fee and pouring lakhs of rupees each year. While some are saving up for their Masters, others simply do not have this privilege. This can become distressful, especially with those lacking flexibility in course.
On speaking to a national daily, Ms Anupa Siddhu, Principal of Lady Irwin College said how there was no “gender bias” but identified the problem as co-ed colleges not “showing interest in starting the course”. On speaking to the same daily, the Principal of Aryabhatta College expressed that there exists a “lack of demand” for Home Science and offering these can be difficult due to limited resources. He further went on to suggest that the women’s colleges offering these courses should accommodate male students as well.
“It was extremely difficult to find a good college which offered Sociology for boys, without having to dish out ten lakhs. This reflects on the prevailing mentality in DU that only girls take Sociology”, remarked Kabir Madan a student of Sociology from Shiv Nadar University.
The race will soon begin as the cut of lists will be released this week, students wait in anticipation not knowing what the future holds. On asking many students, who faced this situation in the previous years, what advice they had for aspirants they all emphasised on how happy they were wherever they had ended up. Many talked about how with the existing mindset it is already difficult for many to open about how they are now aiming for these courses, it becomes further demotivating to not be able to qualify for DU. However, one year down the lane, it will seem like the right decision.
Madan added, “I think most of my batchmates ended up in places we least expected to end up in at the beginning of 12th grade. And it all turned out to be great for me, even though I did not initially expect it to (at that time). After a year, I am very happy with my decision.”
Image Credits: Hindustan Times
Shivani Dadhwal
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