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DU Cut Offs 2013: What You Can Expect

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Soon after the declaration of class XII board results, DU has again found a place in news. Only this time, it’s about a new course structure, amidst expectations of a rising cut off.

Let’s have a glance at this year’s results. About 7231 students crossed the barrier of 95%. While high percentage surely would have come as relief to both parents and students, how good would be the chances a student who has scored, say, 93%, would only become clear once the cut offs are declared.

Since the 95%+ club has been inundated with students, specially Science students, an average of about 3-4 % rise seems inevitable in the cut offs of science courses, as is also evident from the fact  that 754 students have scored 98% and above in physics and 426 people got merit in biology.

Altogether 44,676 students have scored 90% and higher in the Class XII CBSE boards, and their best-of-four aggregate for undergraduate admissions is likely to be even higher as 701 students have scored 100 in Maths and 1,498 have scored 96% and above in English. A spiralling rise was seen in Accountancy were 403 students earned merit in comparison to 223 in last year and in Business Studies it is 901. It is expected that increase in cut off for commerce course will range from 0.75%-1%. With SRCC, last year, announcing an unbelievable 100% cut off (for non-commerce students), it will be very interesting to see how this year’s increase takes shape. St Stephens which announced 98% as economics honours cut off is now expected to announce cut off around 98.75% – 99%. Humanities courses are also expected to see a rise of about 1%- 2%.

(For entire Admissions 2013 coverage click here)

However, not all subjects have witnessed an increase in marks scored. In Core English, the merit certificates have gone down from 1,782 to 1,498 this year, a decrease of about 19%. In Elective English, the decrease has been around 2-3%. CATE has been scrapped and the University will be admitting students on the basis of marks after many years.

The other reason spotted for rise in this year’s cut off might be the risk of over-admitting students. Earlier, there was rampant over-admission in spite of high cut-offs. But with the increase in the number of available seats under the four-year undergraduate program, there are contradictory views that this might get balanced out too.

Moreover, it’s a new system and colleges might be very cautious and conservative, especially for the first cut-off list, but in subsequent lists, cut offs are expected to normalize. Overall, there are a number of factors to be considered—the four-year undergraduate program that will increase the total strength of Delhi University’s undergraduate classes by about a third, redistribution of seats that formerly belonged to ‘Program’ courses, removal of entrance tests in several courses and, finally, the Class XII CBSE results. The abolishing of the BA, BCom and BSc program courses has added seats to many of the honours courses and the impact this has on cut-offs, will depend largely on how many seats have been redistributed and among how many subjects.

This year it’s going to be very tricky.

Update: The cut-off for St. Stephen’s College was declared on June 21st. Check the details here.

Image credits: Surbhi Bhatia 

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Campus Central

Teachers anxious over restructured 4-year course

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Delhi University does it again. From delay in examination results to admissions, they have now failed to restructure the to-be introduced 4-year undergraduate programme within time. Sources at DU reveal that a select group of teachers from each department had been asked to prepare the curriculum for the new course, which was to be submitted to the Vice Chancellor by the 11th of March, or as some sources say the 20th. Either way the deadline has been overshot by most departments, and with just 3 months left for the university to start enrolling students, this delay has received much flak.

The teachers have criticized the proposed reforms citing issues like shoddy infrastructure, undemocratic representation of college teachers in syllabus making, hasty and unplanned manner of increasing student workload. As a result many senior teachers have been kept in the dark and have been asked to only work on the design and their opinion has definitely not been taken into consideration as to how and why a 3 year honours programme can be diluted and converted into a 4 year course. According to a senior teacher from Miranda House, ‘DU is still trying to cope up with the changes made with the introduction of the semester system. Asking us to convert the syllabus of a rigorous 3 years honours programme, into one of 4 years that too within 15 days is something close to impossible’.

The deadline is yet to be met, and many teachers have actually opted out of the process while questioning the validity of the entire idea.

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News

University proposes Four-Year Undergraduate Programme

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The University of Delhi has proposed a four-year undergraduate programme, starting from 2013. The first year will comprise of general studies like mathematics, computers, environmental studies, Indian culture, etc, and from the second year, specialized studies can be begun. Another feature of this programme is that the students can leave the course after the second year and get a diploma. Leaving after the third year will give the student a general degree, and only after the completion of the fourth year would the student be given the honours degree.

The programme is on the lines of the American system that offers a large variety of subjects for students to choose from. The extra year will help increase the employability of the students by engaging them in other courses.

A student, who might leave the course after the second or third year, has the option to return within ten years of leaving and complete the course. Post-graduation can be completed within a year, thus keeping the number of years for study, the same.

The course is also a great help to students who plan to go abroad for further studies since most universities want students to have completed a four year undergraduate degree and many are rejected because India follows a 10+2+3 pattern.

“I am currently in a university outside of India where the 4 year undergraduate programs are in place. I see how much exposure these students here get in inter disciplinary courses and how this exposure has led to their holistic development.” says Soumya Sivakumar.

The wide range of subjects offered in the course can be the demand of the students who want to study subjects other than their major disciplines.

“The students continue to surprise us. Sanskrit students want to study French and German simultaneously, mathematics students want to study history. In fact, this shows their maturity. There is a great demand for Sanskrit teachers and academics in Germany. We need to explore many more such opportunities and innovation and empower our students,” said Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi.

The students can use credits gained through sports or other extra-curricular activities to knock off one or two subjects and still complete the course.

The programme has received appreciation from many, but criticism from some as well. There are questions about its legality, since “India’s national policy for education allows a university to follow only the 10+2+3 model. There is no uniformity with other central universities. Also, the task force is an illegal body that has no statutory standing,” said Sheo Dutt, an Academic Council member.

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