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Tribal Christian Students Cry Foul at St. Stephen’s Cut-offs

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After a row on the interview panel, another controversy surrounding discrimination in admissions has come up against St. Stephen’s College.

St. Stephens College released its cut-offs on 24th June 2019. Since then, there has been uproar amongst the Naga Students’ Union of Delhi regarding higher cut-offs for students from Christian Scheduled Tribe (CST), as compared to Christians from Other than Church of North India (COTH).

In a letter to the Principal, the Union said, “It is evident that there is high discrimination against students falling under CST category, where the cut-off marks have been kept much higher than the COTH”, as told in a report in The Hindu. The Union also added, “There is no rationality on how CST and COTH differ as far as the teaching of Christianity is concerned.” They called this difference a violation of their Constitutional Rights.

Comparing this year’s cut-offs to the last year’s, one can easily see that there has been a drastic change because last year the cut-offs for these quotas were either similar, or were lower for Christian ST’s in almost all courses.

In the list of 2018-19, the cut-off for B.A. Programme for COTH was at 88% (Commerce and Science) and at 85.5% (Humanities), while for CST, it was at 86% (Commerce and Science) and at 83.5% (Humanities). In this year’s list, the cut-off for COTH is at 88% (Commerce and Science) and at 86.5% (Humanities), while for CST it is set drastically higher at 96% (Commerce and Science) and at 94.5% (Humanities).

Similarly, this change in cut-off has also been observed in the B.Sc. Mathematics Course where, in 2018-19 for COTH, the cut-off was at 90.5% (Commerce and Science) and at 89.5% (Humanities), while for CST, it was at 82.5% (Commerce and Science) and at 81.5% (Humanities). In this year’s list, the cut-off for COTH is at 82.5% (Commerce and Science) and at 81.75% (Humanities), while for CST it is again set higher at 92.5% (Commerce), at 92.75% (Science) and at 91.75% (Humanities).

On contacting the Governing Body of St. Stephen’s College, we received no response regarding this matter.

 

Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat

 

Sakshi Arora

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DUB Speak

A Brief Study in College Vacations

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Comparing my first college vacations to my summer vacations back in school, I realise that one word that I associate with these holidays is ‘voluntary’. Read to find out why.

Summer vacations in colleges are certainly ‘voluntary’. For two months students are left without subordination, projects or stress about studying. Unlike school vacations, one does not have to worry about constant supervision by parents or heavy load of holiday homework. These two months college vacations are your own to enjoy, work, read, study, play, travel or catch up on your favourite shows.

Despite being unsupervised, these vacations do not remain as carefree as one expects them to be. Himanika Agarwal, from Gargi College said, “College vacations bring a load of insecurity along with them, I am always curious to know what my friends and classmates are doing. Some are doing internships, some are completing language courses, everyone around me is doing something productive and that pushes me to also take part in something which enhances my CV.” Along with her, many others also feel that there is an intense pressure of not letting your vacations go to waste.

On the other hand, Praachi Ratra, from Jesus and Mary College said that she is grateful for this time of peace because she was able to utilise it to go on a trip with her group of girlfriends. She added “My school friends and I have been planning this trip since our boards ended, but that time is too hectic and we didn’t get enough time throughout the year., Tthis summer vacation gave us the opportunity to actually go on that trip and fulfill our dream.”

Comparing them to schools’ summer vacations, Gaurvi Rustagi from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies added that these vacations are far more relieving and relaxing. According to her, she has been successfully able to utilise this time for her artistic tendencies and complete her volunteering at an NGO.

Many students also feel ecstatic when they get a chance to go back to their hometown for a longer and unrestricted period of time. Students who come to the University from far away cities believe that the summer vacations bring with them a remedy to their long established homesickness and make them ready for another year in Delhi.

For many, this year’s summer vacation might be the last vacation they have in (or outside) the University. Post this, they might end up navigating through the boulders of life; getting a routine job or prepping for a competitive examination. So, utilise this vacation to the fullest. Do not hold back from exploring new interests or polishing your old ones. Go intern for a new experience or travel to create new memories. Breathe in the positivity of doing nothing, or stay busy with load of projects. Wake up every morning with a purpose, because this time never comes back.

Feature Image Credits: Sakshi Arora for DU Beat

Sakshi Arora

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Admissions

DU Publishes New Admission Criteria For All Courses

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With the High Court ordering University of Delhi (DU) to scrap the new admission criteria for B. Com. (Hons.) and BA Economics (Hons.), other courses may also be given the same relaxation.

The University of Delhi (DU) has now repealed the new eligibility requirements for admission to the B. Com. (Honours) and BA Economics (Honours) courses. This move comes following the Delhi High Court orders, after a considerate amount of criticism and a plea against the controversial move to include Mathematics in Best Four Subjects aggregate for the two courses.

DU has released a new Bulletin of Information for admission to undergraduate courses on Monday, based on the 2018-19 eligibility criteria. It has been observed that the new eligibility criteria for other courses has similarly been replaced with that of the last year.

The Court had previously called this move arbitrary, and beyond requesting the varsity to repeal it. It also had asked to extend the process till June 22nd, which was previously June 14th. This order has also been implemented.

A bench of Justice Anu Malhotra and Justice Talwant Singh stated, “There is no dispute that you (DU) to be in tune with the times. Nothing prevents you from improving the education standards. No one is saying your decision is not right, but your timing may not be right.” They further added that these criteria can be applied only with six months’ prior notice.

These changes were put forth by recommendations from different departments in the varsity and then needed approval from the Standing Committee, Academic  Council. But the members of the Executive Council, prior to the conundrum, requested the Vice Chancellor in a letter to not give his approval.

While the inclusion of Mathematics in best of four for B.A. Economics (Hons.), and 50% marks in Mathematics for B. Com. (Hons.) are now not compulsorily required. There is currently a requirement of 55% marks in English for B.A. English (Honours) and in Hindi for B.A. Hindi (Honours). B.A. Programme, B.A. Urdu (Hons.), Arabic (Hons.), and Persian (Hons.) also have a new eligibility criterion for 40% in class 10th or 12th in the respective subjects.

Stuti Tanotra, a Delhi University aspirant expressed her joy stating, “Under the new criteria, my Best of Four (BoF) was getting reduced and I was apprehensive about getting a good college for Economics. Now that this has been scrapped, I am very happy my BoF has increased, and now I look forward to studying Economics at DU.”

This change has led to a lot of changes in not just the extending of admissions, but also a delay in releasing cut-offs as well as the dates for the trials of extracurricular activities, and consequently admissions. St. Stephen’s College has also extended its dates and the cut-off for interviews will now be released on June 24th.

Applicants can check the new corrigendum on the University’s official website: http://www.du.ac.in/adm2019/

 

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India

Shivani Dadhwal

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Campus Central

Adityanath Agrees to Fund New DU Hostel

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University of Delhi is set to get a new hostel, as a proposal by the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Shakti Singh is approved by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to allocate funds of INR 48 crore.

According to a press release by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister (CM) of Uttar Pradesh is set to provide INR 48 crore for a new University of Delhi’s (DU) Hostel.

A proposal by Shakti Singh dated the 10th of June was approved by CM Yogi Adityanath the same day. The proposal addresses the difficulties faced by DU students while looking for student accommodation. The proposal also highlights that only 1-2% of students from Uttar Pradesh get hostel accommodation.

The new hostel requires approximately 3 acres of land to be built. The hostel is said to have 500 seats, and sports facilities over INR 3 crore. The total cost, including overhead charges amounts to INR 48 crore. The hostel is set to be constructed on the Uttar Pradesh government’s land in Delhi.

DUSU President Shakti Singh said on Twitter, “A big thank you to CM Yogi Adityanath Ji. I am highly thankful to you for the assurance of sanction of (INR) 48 Crore for the budget to build hostels for students of Uttar Pradesh in Delhi-NCR. It would be one major step towards accommodation.”

The promise of a new hostel brings relief to students even though the dates of construction and its unveiling remain unclear.  Finding cheap accommodation on campus, or in Delhi is not easy for the regular DU student. With rising costs of commercial accomodations (Paying Guests), and limited number of seats in the hostel, students are left with no choice but to opt for private accommodation which usually burns a hole in their pocket. In some cases, students are also subjected to harassment by brokers and landlords.

The move sounds promising, as currently, the University hostels lack various facilities, and the number of seats remains low. The University also has a history of protests related to the hostels, with the recent ones being the Hindu College hostel and the Daulat Ram College hostel rows. This move also leaves one wondering if the implementation of the new hostel would mean a revision in the current hostel rules and guidelines.

Feature Image Credits: Shakti Singh on Twitter

Jaishree Kumar

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Admissions

An Extensive Guide to Admissions: St. Stephen’s College

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Presenting a detailed guide to applying to one of the most premier institutes in the country, St. Stephen’s College. 

University of Delhi (DU) admissions have begun and it is important for all DU aspirants to be able to understand the admission procedures. The admissions to all colleges in the university follow a similar pattern. However, this pattern differs in the case of semi-autonomous colleges . One of these colleges includes St. Stephen’s College. This Christian minority college has a slightly different form of admission for taking in students.

Applying to St. Stephen’s College is a double-layered process. The applicant must start by applying to the university, that is, going through the standard procedure of filling the university application. Once that has been completed, the applicant must then apply on St. Stephen’s admission’s portal. This portal can only be accessed with the applicant’s DU form number. After accessing the admission portal, the applicant must register at the portal using their DU form number. This is followed by a verification email sent by the college. Once verified, the applicant can proceed to the next stage. The application procedure is very simple and comprehensive. The admission form has various sections that need to be filled or completed in order to move to the next aspect of the form.

Given below are the various steps for the same:

  1. After the verification is done, the first page begins with the form requesting various kinds of personal informations like the name of the applicant, the father’s name, the mother’s name, their occupations etc. After filling all such details correctly we move on to the next page.
  2. The second page deals with various documents that are to be submitted by the applicant with respect to various kinds of reservations that the college has allotted for non-Christian applicants. These are divided into various categories that include SCs, STs, and OBCs. In case of Christian students, documents that declare their churches and denominations are to be submitted. All Christian students are to submit scanned copies of their baptism certificates along with a declaration from their parish Priest stating the authenticity of the Christian upbringing of the applicant. The applicant can also select multiple categories, if it applies to him or her.
  3. The third page deals with course selection. This page provides details for the various courses that the institution provides, and the subjects that need to be added for the same. After the applicant selects the subject or subjects he or she wishes to apply to, the applicant can proceed to the next page.
  4. The fourth page deals with various aspects of the applicant’s education qualifications. This space is meant for the applicants to put in details like the address of their school, the form of syllabus or the board that they followed, their school etc. The scanned copies of tenth and twelfth class mark sheets are to be uploaded here. Followed by whether their result has been declared or not. If the applicant chooses “Yes”, then four columns appear for the subjects. The applicant can also add more subjects. Based on the subject chosen, the site automatically calculates the best of four. For example: If the student chooses chemistry, then chemistry would be automatically added in the best of four.
  5. The fifth page deals with three questions. This page is a very important step in filling the form. It can also be said to be the most important because it deals with the applicant answering questions posed by the college. The answers play an important role in further selections. The first question deals with the goals, aspirations, and various interests of the applicant.
  6. This question is followed by the statement of purpose (SOP). This basically asks the applicant to state the reasons for choosing the subject they have applied for. The applicant must answer this question carefully. The last question is “Why St. Stephen’s College?”

These three questions are to be written within a word limit of 100 to 300 words.

Applications are filtered from here, based on the answers written by the applicants. Thus, it is important to write carefully with valid reasons for your arguments.

Once the SOPs have been filled, the payment has to be made for the form. The applicant has to pay 200 INR per course. If the applicant wants to apply for the residence facility, then another 350 rupees is to be paid. The residence facility is the hostel facility that the college provides for its students, who do not belong to Delhi or the NCR regions.

This is the basic format that is followed by the college for its admission process. Do not be worried about the SOPs ( Please take a copy of your SOPs as they might be needed for the interview that would follow).

A thorough background of your course and the college would be good pointers for a great SOP. DU Beat wishes good luck to all applicants applying to St. Stephen’s. May the odds be in your favour!

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Stephen Mathew

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Admissions

Things to Keep in Mind Before Taking Admission in DU

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Dear Aspiring Students,

Here is a list of things I feel you should keep in mind before taking admission into the University of Delhi (DU).

  • ADMISSION PROCESS

The admission process for DU seems tiring, laborious, and everlasting. Trust me, it is. After carefully filling in the forms, wait and have the patience for the cut-offs to come out. Keep in mind your favorable course and calculate the Best of Four (BoF) percentage accordingly. Keep all your documents ready and extra photocopies as well. Upload all essential documents on your Email ID’s and Google Drive for it to be easily accessible in case you forget something. Keep extra passport size photos and Aadhar-card copies of your parents and yourself. Read the UG Bulletin of information available on the website and check if you are applicable for any of the quotas. Keep dates in check (I had marked my calendars), stay in touch with your friends and peers, help each other and support each other.

(Read the DU UG Bulletin 2019-20 here: Click) 

  • EXPLORE

Going for admission procedure to colleges once the cut-offs come out takes time. It might take you a whole day, in the Dilli ki Garmi to get your admission done, and you might have to do this more than once, after subsequent cut-offs come out and you upgrade to different courses and colleges (I did it thrice). You might get tired, but don’t sit in one corner waiting, scared and anxious. The college you go and visit will most probably end up being your home for the next three years. So, explore the canteens, the gardens, the classrooms, the staircases, the markets nearby, the metro stations and bus stands. Familiarise yourself with the environment. It helps in the long run. Take a good company with you, take friends and family, take loads of food and make a picnic out of your admission visit. Make it as fun as you can, as it will be your first experience of being inside the college you will call your own for the next three years.

  • COURSE VS COLLEGE

Many of us don’t score high enough to get our favourite courses and colleges. So, once the cut-off comes out, it becomes a hysterical decision, to chose which course to pursue, and from which college. It will end up in a series of heated discussions between you, your family members, and your well-wishers, and constant visits to websites like collegedunia to read about the ‘scope’ of different courses. Your father will suggest one course, your mother will suggest another college, while you will be at the center of this dilemma, choosing your career just after finishing off with boards (I felt like taking a year-long vacation to decide my college). But in the midst of all this, keep in mind that while making this choice, you might end up losing your preferred course or college or even both, but in the end it won’t matter because once in college, you can helm the journey of your college years to follow the awaited dream you had. You can take your preferred course as an elective and earn a minor degree and participate in different colleges all over the DU circuit to make friends in your favourite college. Although, this decision should be taken with the utmost care, but in the end, you will never regret giving up on one particular thing, because the college life will reward you with so many others that you will be filled up to the brim with happiness and satisfaction.

  • LIFE AT DU

The life at the University is not what you might be envisioning right now, it is not all fun and games, but it is so much more. It is exposure and experience, new friends and families, perspectives and politics, fests and euphoria, academics and attendance, and crowds and metro. It is the flavour of chai that burns at your tongue, and sleepless nights you pull off to finish that one academic paper. It is commuting in an empty metro early in the morning to reach your college on time for an extra class, for it to get cancelled. It is crying, curled up in your bed missing your families, small events and birthday celebrations back home. It is managing the month end with minimal finances asking for udhaar because you are broke. It is also listening to your favourite songs non-stop in the long metro rides, reading your favourite authors or academic papers, it is also celebrating the small festivals you miss back home with your newfound family at college, it is also the breath of relief when you see your parents face to face on a skype call and it is also filling your tummy up with freshly-made Maggi on days you don’t like the PG food. It is a rollercoaster of freshness and it is going to be a beautiful journey!

All the best, students! Make a good choice without any regrets, and enjoy this time to the fullest, you will surely miss it once it is over.

Regards,

Sakshi Arora

 

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat

 

Sakshi Arora

s[email protected]

 

 

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DUB Speak

College and the Existential Angst

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There is a gargantuan vacuum between the triads of the life in and around college, the internal anxieties, and all the post-modern ways you try to mask it in. This piece was published in the farewell edition of DU Beat for the session 2018-2019.
In spite of the million diversities which form the demography of the University of Delhi (DU), what creates an eternal mutual sympathy is the fact that we all come out of the conveyor belt of a strict school system, having braved the long twelve years of mechanical monotony, and the teenage crises, under the constant surveillance of parents.

Naturally then, the idea of a promised land of unfathomed independence called college is firmly romanticised in our mental spaces. In perpetuum, the countless young-adult movies, the many high-school drama based books, and all those young-love songs, create an utopia: about a future in the dreamish college, which ultimately develops into clearly unrealistic expectation from, and hence for, the future self; a red zone by all aspects.

Then starts college, and with it, dance heavily and noisily on our heads all the expectations that the 13-year-old, and later the 16-years-old self had from this 18-years-old self. As if that being not enough, the present self adds extra expectations when one sees the other guy in the class who has a really confident air you had always wanted to have, or the girl over there is interning with a big-shot media firm, or some guy on the first bench has read all the books a human, for you, possibly can.

First year, hence, goes by in ticking the boxes. Studies, internships, dressing well, the right genre, a romantic endeavour, a friend circle – there are just too many to tick. Additionally, the university keeps its tricks in tact – the freshers’ parties, elections, and fest; a first-year kid, the prince of this promised heaven, has to ace all of them.

But the second year brings the disillusionment. You realise that there will be this person who would always score better, because the marking system is inherently flawed, that college societies can be really toxic, and any number of smoked cigarettes won’t fit you in with the cool kids, that the relationship is just another game of power dynamics, that capitalism is a lie, the god is dead, and there is no point of doing all the freelancing and internships because any tangible outcome is impossible. Overall, there is no point striving because at the end of the day, nothing actually is worth the struggle. Unsurprisingly, social media, where your friends show off their unflinching state of happiness in weekly parties and monthly trips, where success stories are a regular tune, only increases this existential malaise. Clearly, this is the huge boulder of failing expectations and hard-hitting realities, and the Sisyphean second-year kid finds increasingly impossible to ascend with it to the following year – the third and the final year of this tryst with life.

However, as Albert Camus famously concluded, one must imagine Sisyphus happy. Since the reality has finally set in and the ultimate truth of being caught up in indomitable constructs is a universal act, by the final year, one starts understanding existential angst in its own terms. Living is full of complexities, it is up to the individual to give the meaning to life. It is up to one to find the order in this chaos. And so one does.

“More often than not, one stops looking for the answers in the third year, and starts taking delight in the mess that is life, comes at peace with the hypocrisies, cultural anxieties, emotional and individual insecurities and, well, life,” remarks a professor, who has also been a student of this university, in a casual conversation.

Summing up, if you have spent these three years at the university and have, by some deux ex machina, succeeded in saving your sanity, you know where you are heading. Even if nothing makes sense right now, with patience, it will. Product of the Indian social constructs and the education system as you are, good things are waiting for you.

Feature Image Source: Google

Nikhil Kumar
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DUB Speak

Struggling With FOMO in College Life

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College students often find themselves grappling with the Fear Of Missing Out, endearingly shortened to ‘FOMO’, as they struggle to keep their lives together. Here’s delving deep into this fear to understand it better.

College years are an amalgamation of a never-ending struggle for attendance, CGPA, friends, and social life. Managing all of these dimensions, and devoting equal attention to all of these aspects become quite impossible and we end up missing out on one thing or the other in our bid to keep them all in our control. No matter how much we try, acing the art of keeping a perfect balance between all these aspects is one Herculean task.

“I need to complete my assignments and my friends are out there partying and having fun,” or “I’ll miss out on an awesome trip with my friends if I pursue this internship in the summers,” and the more famous one, “I must keep up with the show that I hate, because I want to be relevant” etc.. If you have had similar thoughts draining you out of joy and making you constantly discontented with your life, you are suffering from a syndrome called FOMO.

FOMO is defined as anxiety than an exciting or an interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media.

Youngsters are most vulnerable to FOMO as anxiety of living a perfect life and comparing their lifestyles with that of their peers constantly pressurize them. Darlen McLaughlin, assistant professor at the Texas A&M Health Science College says, “FOMO is especially rampant in the millennial community because they see a peer achieving something they want, and somehow in their mind, that achievement means something is being ‘taken away’ from them.” This could, perhaps, be linked to the kind of connectivity that we have – with people posing on Instagram, Facebook, etc., it becomes difficult not to compare yourself with others. And the verity of the virtual image of people is always a big question mark, that seems to get blurred in our fit of envy.

Constantly getting affected by this fear hampers productivity and ends up in acute dissatisfaction. Thus, dealing with FOMO in a smart manner is essential to retain one’s sanity.

It becomes imperative to internalize the fact that no matter what you do, you’ll always miss out on something. Constantly dwelling on what you are missing out will strip you of your satisfaction. It is also significant to prioritise, so you invest your time in activities that are yielding and actually interest you. So, tell yourself that’s okay to miss a few parties or outings as you are working towards an even more important goal.

Besides, this idea of the Gen-Y, that says that there has to be this constant state of bliss is especially problematic. Not saying that there shouldn’t be ambition, or motivation to be able to do everything, but one must realise that it is okay to have bad days, or dissociation, or not having watched the show that everyone seems to be talking about.

Bottom line is that for everyone, their mental health should be their number one priority, even if it means disappointing your friends and peers.

 

Image Credits: The Irish Times

 

Shreya Agrawal

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Physical Wellness in College Students

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In their college years, students pay no attention to their physical wellness which has hazardous implications in future. Here’s delving deep into the subject and discussing the changes one needs to bring in their lifestyle to improve their physical health.

College years can be some of the most stressful years for a student- both mentally and physically. You are overburdened with academics, society activities, friends and social life, and so much more.

In such a scenario, students, more often than not, forget taking care of themselves and pay no attention to their physical wellness. Several unhealthy habits ingrained during college years often deteriorate their health which become the root of health issues later in life.

How often do you prefer eating out over cooking for yourself? Do you also spend the most amount of your day sitting in front laptop completing your assignment or well, just binging shows on Netflix?

During college years, students, especially those living in hostels, find themselves involved into unhealthy eating habits like eating junk food very often, binging on unhealthy snacks during midnight study sessions, heavy dependence on caffeine among others. Excessive intake of such unhealthy high-on-calorie food items leads to problems like obesity.

There’s also a considerable reduction in the number of physical activities performed by college students as compared to when they were in school. Lack of any compulsory physical exercise like sports in college gives students numerous reasons to never leave the comfort of their cozy beds and go out in the fresh air. Physical lethargy leads to mental lethargy, robbing students of concentration and an active mind.

In conversation with DU Beat, Sakshi from Kamala Nehru College (KNC) said that she didn’t remember the last time she played any sport during her college years. She also added that regular intake of junk food and soft drinks have become the norm of college life.

This decline in attention towards physical health is worrisome, for it may have several hazardous implications for students.

Thus, it’s quite important for college students to become aware of their daily physical habits and to not ruin it further every day. Small changes are key to bringing about a major change in one’s physical lifestyle.

Prefer cooking at home over regularly binging junk food outside. Try healthier snack options during your late night study sessions. Get up from your bed and chair every hour, take a walk outside in the fresh air, and give your body some physical movement like sports and exercise. Simran from Gargi College said, “I have started exercising daily in my hostel itself due to lack of time to go to the gym. It helps me feel rejuvenated and healthy.”

Engaging in sports brings an individual not only physical benefits but they also leave the person mentally fresh and energised. Dharna Bothra from KNC said, “I feel extremely active and energised not only physically but also mentally after playing sports.”

So, put your phones down, get up from your beds and take a long walk outside. Do your physical health a favor!

Feature Image Credits: Northern Lights College

Shreya Agrawal

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Should Cellphones Be Allowed in Colleges?

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With the use of cellphones at an all-time high, there is an ongoing debate about if they should be allowed in colleges and classrooms, or not. Let’s delve into the matter and understand it better.

Technology has invaded almost every aspect of our lives. Our gadgets have become our new friends without whom life is just impossible to imagine. So much so, that we become totally inseparable with them. We are exceedingly becoming dependent on them to lead our lives. Students, especially, find themselves heavily reliant on their smartphones and even carry it to their colleges.

How right is that and should this act be allowed? This is the question that needs to be discussed.

People supporting the ban of smartphones in colleges term it as a distraction deviating students from their academics. Usage of cellphones in classrooms results in the wastage of time during important class hours. It also fuels their social media addiction since a productive academic atmosphere should be devoid of social networking apps. Another important aspect which Simran from Gargi College brought forward was how smartphones weaken the students’ ability to come to a solution themselves as everything is available just at the press of a button.

But, should we consider banning them from college premises keeping the above propositions in mind? There is another side of the coin that needs to be assessed too.

Smartphones are like handheld computers which can be used as a great tool of learning in innovative ways which are beyond the scope of traditional teaching. It becomes convenient for teachers too, in cases when they need to hand out digital academic materials to their students. Apart from being great learning tools, they also become absolutely essential for students for keeping in touch with their parents and ensuring their safety while they travel to and from college.

Thus, banning the usage altogether doesn’t appear like a wise decision but its shortcomings can’t be brushed under the table too.

There instead, needs to be a strict regulation on the use of smartphones on the campus. Social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook must be inaccessible on college WiFi and strict actions must be taken against the defaulter. Mobiles should be collected before the class and should be handed over only when there is an academic need.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Shreya Agrawal

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