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In a press release dated April 22, Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) published the various measures it has undertaken to ensure IT based support for its students. 

The ongoing pandemic has led to serious doubts about a whole lot of things. Students, especially, are puzzled about whether exams will take place or not; if yes, what will be their mode; whether the semester will be extended and so on. DU SOL recently released some of the highlights it has achieved, during the lockdown period, in providing the necessary online support services to its students. As claimed by the release, more than 95% of SOL students have already submitted their online examination forms on the SOL website. SOL’s portal for filling of examination forms and other student related activities is different from DU’s portal, so the students need not fill the online form twice. SOL also stated that it has completed all pre-examination activities and is ready to comply with the directions of the Examination branch regarding the conduction of the exams. It also shared the news of its tie up with Microsoft 365 to offer online academic counselling sessions. Each student and faculty/guest faculty has been given access to Microsoft Team Account, whose details have been uploaded on the dashboard of the students and have been sent through SMS as well. This service is still in the process of being extended to every SOL student. Students facing any kind of issues, with creating the Microsoft Team Account, can send their queries to the official mail ID – ‘[email protected]’.

Lastly, SOL also advised all the students not to believe in unauthentic information and regularly visit the official website of DU and SOL for the latest information. On being asked how easy and accessible are these services, an SOL student told DU Beat, “I had no problem in filling my examination form, however I haven’t received any SMS regarding counseling yet and I am still waiting for my Microsoft Team login ID.”

Thecurrent pandemic has presented us all with difficult choices and authorities must ensure not only the provision of the necessary resources but also their accessibility to everyone.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Ipshika Ghosh

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Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (DU SOL) has postponed the annual mode examinations for the students of B.Com and B.A. (Prog) courses due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

An official notice on the DU SOL website, uploaded on 25th March declares a postpone in the annual examinations of B.Com and B.A.(Prog) courses. As per the previous date sheet the examinations for B.Com and B.A (Prog) courses, were respectively scheduled from 4th and 5th April which now stands withdrawn till any further notice. The students are advised to regularly check the official website for the upload of the revised date sheet.

The official notice on the website reads, “In accordance with the office order No. F.No. Estab.II(i)/330/COVID-19/M/2020 dated 19th March, 2020, the examination of B .Com. (Annual Mode) scheduled to be held from 4th April, 2020 and B.A. (Prog.) (Annual Mode) scheduled to be held from 5th April, 2020 stands withdrawn. The date-sheet for both the above examination will be notified later. All concerned are requested to please stay connected through website for latest updates.”

Riyansh Gupta, a first-year student of B.Com (Prog) course, “We already have to cope with the first and second semester simultaneously and further delays are just increasing the burden. But, in this current situation delay was obvious and much needed so we can’t do anything except for just waiting for the situation to get better.”

He further informed of DU SOL of not being very responsible for passing important information. He said, “One other thing is that DU SOL does not know how to communicate with its students, every time anything happens, DU SOL is the last to respond plus the official site is also not that good.”

Feature Image credits : DU Beat Archives

Kriti  Gupta

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Following a court notification, the officials declared SOL students to write combined first and second-semester examinations, in 2020.

On Monday, 25th November, officials announced that students of Delhi University, School of Open Learning (SOL) will be writing combined examinations for first and second semesters in May-June of 2020, following a notification from High Court (HC) ordered on 21st November. This decision affects the 1.15 lakh students who were admitted to the University this year.

A group of students from SOL had submitted a plea with the Delhi High Court complaining about the unanticipated implementation of the semester-based choice-based credit system (CBCS). Until the previous academic year, the school conducted annual examinations, but with the sudden change on August 17, the students remained unprepared for the semester examinations that were to commence on 24th November.

Pleaders complained that the weekend classes did not begin before 22nd September and had been cancelled “at least three times”. The studying material provided was also “incomplete or illegible”. The Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) has been in the forefront demanding for the semester system to be applied from the following year, so as to allow the students time to get acquainted with the system.

After the Court moved in favour of the students, the Vice Chancellor (VC) submitted a report providing two alternatives- either postpone the first semester to December or combine it with the second semester. The petitioners chose the latter.

The officials from SOL claimed that the students preferred the former choice. Ramesh Bhardwaj, Officer on Special Duty, SOL stated, “We had spoken to thousands of students, and they had said that they preferred the first option… However, we followed the court’s direction.”
A Delhi State Committee member of KYS had stated that the material provided was “so bad” that a month’s delay would not have been sufficient for the students to prepare themselves.

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

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School of Open Learning plans to have new centres after several students complaint about distance and accommodation facilities.

University of Delhi’s School of Open Learning (SOL) has decided to open a new building in Tahirpur, East Delhi. The tentative structure would be a seven storey long building on a 2,100 square metre land at Dilshad Garden. The varsity is also planning to open two other centres in Rohini and Uttam Nagar, to cater students from North West and West Delhi. Around 20,000 students from the area adjoining  Loni in Tahirpur, Rohini and Uttam Nagar are  enrolled for different courses at SOL.

A new examination branch will also be built to avoid delays in conduction of exams and declaration of results. This decision came after first year students protested against the implementation of Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) in SOL after it got approval from Executive Council. The students complained that the current Centre in North Campus did not have enough space to accommodate students who came for the Personal Contact Programme, which endeavoured to equip students with the required infrastructure.

Ramesh Bharadwaj, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), informed the Times of India that SOL will streamline the system. The college has available land in Tahirpur area and it will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central Public Works departments (CPWD) to erect a seven storey building. He advocated for the implementation of CBCS in SOL as the institute was not recognized by Ministry of Human Resource Development’s Open and Distance Learning for it used to follow the Three Year Undergraduate Programme system that has been revoked from almost all the colleges of Delhi University.

Moreover, he added, “More than 90% study materials have been published and we are inviting students daily in batches of 3,000 to collect it. We have already provided soft copies since 25th August, a week before classes started on 1st September.”

The University Grant Commission launched the CBCS system in 2016 for Delhi University but SOL adhered to the old Three Year Undergraduate Programme till August 2018 when it along with NCWEB switched to CBCS to pace up with other colleges of varsity.

Prior to this, SOL had only 20 classes in a year but now the institute can easily hold 17-20 classes, per semester at 42 centers.

 

Featured Image Credits: India Today

Priyanshu

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In lieu of the absence of classes and study material for the approaching exams, students of SOL are distressed.

The School of Open Learning (SOL) faces a crisis as students remain in angst due to the absence of notes and proper scheduled classes. The classes for the session of 2018-19 are set to commence soon enough. The Executive Director of SOL, H.C. Pokhriyal, said in a recent interview to The Indian Express, “We have been able to complete our admissions only by 20th October, which is why classes have not started yet, but they will start soon”.

The SOL website has already added the portal for acceptance of examination forms, without a proper commencement of the academic session. Colleges under Delhi University will commence their examinations from 28th November 2018. Mr. Pokhriyal further explains that the admission process usually begins by June and extends till August. However, this year, the process began in August itself, as a result of which there was a delay. Students should be able to pick up the material from 12th November and classes would begin soon. Usually, the classes commence in September. The admission process for SOL is similar to that of other colleges associated with the varsity. The examinations are also conducted by Delhi University. The course structure is also alike, for the school as well as other constituent colleges.

The annual examinations occur in April. However, the strange thing is the fact that students still do not have their study materials. The study material is given immediately after the admission, as explained by the Staff Council Secretary of SOL, J.Khuntia. At present, more than four and a half lakh students are enrolled at the UG and PG level.  Almost all of the processes are handled by the online Students Information and Management System. Several students do not have proper access to the e-resources and do not have a sense of clarity about the study patterns. The official website is showcasing study materials for the second semester and beyond, thereby creating more confusion. Authorities should give directions to the students in lieu of the approaching exams.

Feature Image Credits: The School of Open Learning

Avnika Chhikara

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