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DU Introduces 5 New Online Courses

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted approval to the University of Delhi (DU) to start five online courses, that would be made public from January 2020. 

On 1st October 2019, the University of Delhi got the green light to conduct five online undergraduate courses by the UGC from January 2020 by the School of Open Learning (SoL). The courses provided by DU will be made made available for five subjects: B.A. Programme, B.A. (Hons.) English, B.A. (Hons.) Political Science, B.Com, and B. Com (Hons.). 

 An official from UGC spoke to NDTV  and said that SOL will upload the learning materials on its website by November this year and start enrolling students in the program from January 2020. The courses will be made available for students in India as well as those abroad, and are being introduced to attract global students to study at the University of Delhi. 

The letter of intent (LoI) was issued by the UGC to the university on 16th September 2019, as reported by DNA India. 

“These courses actually belong to the School of Open Learning (SOL) but by January they will become online courses and will be available all around the world,” a senior official was quoted by a news daily. 

“One of the officials of the Delhi University said that the proposal of online courses was put forward by 22 universities but UGC gave permission to only four universities out of which the Delhi University is one,” the report said.

Dr CS Dubey, Director of the Campus of SOL, said that the online courses will be available not just in India, but students from any country can take admission in the courses. Earlier, Dubey had also said that the DU is planning to conduct 30 per cent of its exams online in a phased manner.

Students too appreciated this. Sabaa, a second year B.A. (Hons.) English said, “I think it is a great opportunity being offered by the University. Not only is it good for integrating DU in the global educational structure, every year the cut-offs become impossible to achieve. This way, those who didn’t clear the cut-offs or are outstation students without the means to move to Delhi for studying, can also enrol in the University. “

Students can look for further details at du.ac.in, the university’s official website. 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives.

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

 

 

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News

Chaos and Confusion at School of Open Learning’s Day One

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The students of the University of Delhi witnessed a sudden chaos on Sunday when there were lack of space issues at the centres of School of Open Learning (SOL) on the first day of the personal contact programme (PCP).

The students filed also alleged that they haven’t received any of the study materials so far. Many of them also alleged that certain colleges even barred them from entering the place thereby making their journey futile. One of the students at the centre described the situation as one of “complete mismanagement”.

Shubham Tiwari, a student who travelled all the way from Loni, Ghaziabad quoted, “There was no proper planning and several students had to stand in the classroom. However, nothing was taught due to the delay and only orientation was conducted.”

Another student from first year, B.A. Political Science added, “The entire day was wasted. They shouldn’t have announced that classes would be conducted if they hadn’t planned properly.”

Acknowledging and addressing the problems faced by the students, the members of SOL’s Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) said in a statement, “We condemn the mismanagement and complete lack of preparation.” It also alleged that colleges like Hansraj and Satyawati did not conduct classes citing that they hadn’t prepared the timetable.

One of the students of SOL said, “Thousands of students returned disappointed and angry as their travel expenses went waste. The hasty manner in which CBCS has been implemented will result in no study material for optional papers being made available to students, which would only result in mass failure in exams.”

In response to chaos that happened at the centres, Mr. C.S. Dubey, director of SOL quoted, “We are working towards improving the situation and have planned to add more classrooms at the 35 centres for PCP classes. The study material will be provided to students online by next week.”

Amrashree Mishra

[email protected]

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Admissions 2019

DU SOL Students Can Now Shift to Regular Colleges in Second Year

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As per reports, CBCS curriculum being adopted at SOL and NCWEB allows students to shift to vacant seats in courses in regular colleges in their second year. SOL also introduces new changes in online learning.

Students from the School of Open Learning (SOL) and Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB) of the University of Delhi (DU) will now be able to take admission in regular colleges in their second year of Undergraduate study.

This move has been brought about by the introduction of the Credit Based Curriculum System (CBCS) at these open learning institutions, which entails that the students at SOL and NCWEB will also be studying the same curriculum as the regular college students. Under this CBCS system, a new curriculum has been introduced for students in the distance learning mode along with options of choosing elective courses which were earlier available only in regular mode.

Director, SOL, Chandra Shekhar Dubey in conversation with the Indian Express said, “Every year, there are several seats that are left vacant in the second year due to a candidate leaving, failing to pass, or changing their college. Each college thereafter releases a cut-off of marks required to fill those seats. Students making it through the cut-off will have to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from both colleges (the one they are shifting from and the one seeking transfer too) and their seat will be shifted. They can also seek transfer from one college to another, in the same mode.”

The SOL will also hold online classes for students, through their respective online dashboards, along with webinars and chat-based counselling sessions. The institute is aiming to hire two thousand new Personal Contact Programme (PCP) counsellors. They will hold counselling online and offline and will also create and disseminate the content material for their respective subjects. With the aim of making the SOL system blended-learning-based, the study material and library access to online classes along with doubt-resolution will also be made available to students online, making the entire process of open learning easier for students through the aide of technology.

Over five lakh students who are associated with the Delhi University’s open learning courses will be affected by these changes.

Image Credits: SOL Website

Bhavya Pandey

[email protected]

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