With the new academic session about to arrive, the admission process in the University of Delhi is all set to undergo some major changes, as reported by the Press Trust of India. Every year there are a number of speculations about variations that are likely to take place, but the process majorly remains the same. However, as confirmed by the Admissions’ Committee to the PTI, the forthcoming session is going to see a lot of differences which are aimed at simplifying the process.
The committee’s first recommendation is to turn the entire procedure online. The varsity has tried to scrap off the offline filling of applications earlier as well, but thr changes could not be implemented. The arguments against the process going online are the concerns about the feasibility of the process for students and parents. Another suggested change is the collection of fee by a centralized system and the reduction in the number of cut-off lists from eight to five or six.
The University had constituted a 24-member committee, comprising of deans from faculties of various streams, along with nine college principals and members of the executive and academic councils, to decide upon the course of the process to be undertaken.
When asked about making the process online and the attempt to implement the same last year, a committee member told the PTI,“Even the UGC has given the go-ahead for the same and the process has been already tested so the admissions are likely to be completely online from this year,”.
“So far, with the offline admission system being in place, the application centers used to collect the fees. However, we are thinking of making it centralized this time. All the payments will be made by the candidates to the university which in turn will reimburse the respective colleges,” the member said. “Also, with seven to eight cut-off lists being announced every year, the process drags to the month of August, by when the classes have already begun. So the number of cut-offs are likely to be limited to five from this year onwards,” he added.
However, the move has not gone down well with the students. A delegation of students, including members of the Students Federation of India (SFI), met the Dean of Students’ Welfare in this regard after staging of a protest at the varsity’s Faculty of Arts.
“The number of applicants for Delhi University’s undergraduate seats keeps on increasing every year and limiting the admission process to online form will restrict access to a significant section of students coming from the resettlement colonies, JJ clusters and working class backgrounds who have limited access to Internet,” a student protester argued.
The final suggestions will be presented to the Vice Chancellor for final confirmation, but with the University admitting 54,000 Undergraduate students, it is yet to see how the process actually takes place this May.
Tanya Agarwal
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