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With coronavirus cases increasing daily in Delhi at an exponential rate, a staffer from the University of Delhi (DU)’s School of Open Learning (SOL) tests positive for the virus.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has been raging across India since March, 2020. With the country under an unprecedented lockdown and no end in the near sight coupled with the rise in cases, India currently has around 40,000 active cases with around 2000 people succumbing to the virus. With the virus still spreading after more than twomonths of lockdown in Delhi, one of the latest people to be infected with it is a staffer serving in Delhi University (DU).
The Staffer who works as an junior assistant-cum-typist in the School of Open Learning got tested positive for Corona Virus on 5 May 2020. It is suspected that he caught the disease after going to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for a routine check up, one of the hospitals where majority of the fatalities of the deadly coronavirus have been reported.

After developing mild breathing problems, an early indicator of the virus, the staffer got himself tested at a private facility. After finding himself to be positive for Coronavirus, he reported himself to the authorities and has been quarantined at the Narela Quarantine Centre.

The man who was staying with his aged parents at the staff quarters in Dhaka, Northwest Delhi before being moved to the quarantine centre. His wife and children were away and the university and local authorities have been informed, with the staff quarters at Dhaka about the necessary precautions and safety of the inhabitants, and an immediate sanitization of the area for the same.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

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the examinations for B.Com and B.A (Prog) courses, were respectively scheduled from 4th and 5th April which now stands withdrawn till any further notice.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

[email protected]

 

After protests by School of Open Learning (SOL) students against cancelled classes and lack of study material, The Delhi High Court (HC) orders a stay on semester exams scheduled in December for SOL students.

SOL had decided to implement the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) from the academic session 2019-20. This change meant that SOL would move into the system which other Delhi University (DU) colleges follow, with exams at the end of every semester instead of annual exams. The hasty and ill-implemented nature of this decision led to several problems such as lack of study material, incomplete syllabus in most honours courses, and cancelled classes.

The initiative which may have been well-intended, was poorly implemented. On 17th November 2019, SOL students came out to protest against the Vice Chancellor (VC) for the same. The protest was in the form of a funeral march for the VC. They had also held a protest outside the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) where they had tonsured their hair and sent it to the Union HRD minister, Delhi Education Minister, UGC, DU, and SOL authorities as a symbolic representation of how they had been orphaned by the authorities.

On 5th November, four student activists had moved the court regarding this matter and their plea was accepted by the Delhi HC. The HC has ordered a stay on the December examinations in SOL by the University. The University will now hold both semester examinations at the end of the second semester, much like the method that was followed in SOL before the implementation of CBCS this academic session.

The students in a statement reported by the Times of India said, “Delhi High Court took DU on all the irregularities and violations evident in the manner in which CBCS has been implemented. Apart from pushing back of November-December exams, the University has to report to an annual nodal officer on the preparations made for the smooth running of the CBCS program in SOL.”

However, SOL director CS Dubey said that the University gave suggestions to the courts. A senior official goes on to say, “If IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) conducts exams of two semesters together, so can we. We have tried our best to make sure that SOL students should be at par with regular students. But some organisations wanted to disrupt that. There are many students who still want to give the exam in December this year.” They point out that exams in December would mean that will have to burden their resources, as different papers will have to be prepared and the number of days extended.

 

(With excerpts from the Times Of India)

 

 Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

 

[email protected]

 

 

The School of Open Learning (SOL), Delhi University (DU) is all set to introduce its online teaching programme to aid students from 1st November.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has requested SOL  to upload Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) for B.A. Programme, B.Com (Honours), B.Com Programme and B.A English (Honours) for the first semester.

This comes after the Governing Body made this decision in a prior meeting. The faculty of DU had been requested to submit the proposal for the same. It was earlier approved by the Executive Council of DU.

The motion of online courses was put forward by 22 universities, but UGC gave consent to only four which includes DU.

A “four-quadrant approach” has been suggested under UGC guidelines. This includes video and audio tutorials, open access web content, self-assessment techniques like MCQs, among others. Availability of reading material, in the form of e-books or PDFs, has also been suggested.

The University website provided instructions on making these modules on Tuesday, abiding with the guidelines which state to incorporate video lectures, classroom presentations, small movies, documentaries, fieldwork, virtual experimental learning, gaming, and short question and answers.

It also states that these must be in accordance with the government’s SWAYAM guidelines.

“We have developed a special system, which includes live streaming of lectures. Our teachers have already developed the lectures. We have also hired special tutors and interns,” said Mr CS Dubey, Director of SOL, as reported by Jagran Josh.

SOL is also planning to partially conduct its examination online. The institution had applied for approval to offer online courses in January this year, after the UGC Gazette Notification dated 4th July 2018, prescribing the regulations that shall apply to a university conducting open learning classes.

 

Feature Image credits: College Duniya

 

 Stephen Mathew

s[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

Almost 4 lakh final year students enrolled in the School of Open Learning (SOL) stand at a loss of losing a year of studies, as the University of Delhi has not released their results yet. The varsity has already begun to declare results of final year students admitted in regular colleges.

Admissions to most post-graduate courses, including those in DU, are already underway leaving SOL students at a huge disadvantage. According to the Hindu, SOL officials have said that the results are likely to be declared in October. This leaves the students with a prospect of having to drop a year of studies.

In a statement to the Hindu, Ravinder Kumar, a student of B.A. (Programme) at SOL said, “Admissions to most universities will close in September. However, our results will not be declared before October. This means that I will have to waste one year.”

Many such students have accused the University of negligence towards SOL students, and of deliberately delaying their results.  Students of SOL see this treatment as an act of blatant differentiation from regular colleges.

Moreover, students from SOL have been trying to get their concerns heard for many years. SOL student, Harsh Gautam says to the Hindu, We have been requesting the university for the last four years to resolve the matter. We have even submitted memorandums and met the Vice-Chancellor. However, nothing has been done to rectify the issue.”

Officials blame a large number of students for the delay in results. However, students believe that it is not a valid reason for them to miss out on a year of academics.

With inputs from The Hindu

Swareena Gurung
[email protected]

On 5th July 2017, CCTV cameras captured Riya Gautam being stabbed multiple times by her stalker, just 100 metres from her house in Shahdara, East Delhi. In a tragic turn of events, despite being taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, she died on the very next day. Gautam, 21 years old, was pursuing her graduation from the University of Delhi (DU) via the distance education mode and aspired to be an air hostess soon. Among witnesses to this gruesome incident was Piyush Sharma, a 12-year-old boy and Gautam’s neighbour, who reported that the victim was stabbed in the neck from behind. Initially, she ran into a photo studio to seek help, but finding it desolate, moved onto another nearby shop. The attacker kept following her until the neighbours began to gather, following which, he ran in the opposite direction, as per eyewitness accounts.

Incidentally, Adil, the 22-year-old attacker, was known to Gautam’s family as he had stalked her in the past too. A complaint had been registered just three months prior to this incident. After the family filed the complaint, however, he disappeared.The police informed the family that he had fled to Gujarat. Girwan Singh, the father of the victim, who works at Maulana Azad Medical College, insists that the police find Adil as soon as possible. Concerned that he is still a threat to the society, Singh persists that “he should get the death sentence”.

This incident is the latest in a string of such cases of stalking in the capital, all having ended up with the victims losing their lives. A lack of awareness and preparation in dealing with such cases, police negligence, and a serious lack of coordination have all attributed to their deaths in the past as well. Incidentally, this is tied to the bigger and often neglected issue of mental health. Perhaps it is time, along with appropriate and faster action being taken by the law-enforcement authorities, to educate the masses about mental health issues and how to deal with them too. When it comes to sidelining and ignoring mental health, the aphorism that the biggest threat lies within comes true drastically.

Image credits: victimsofcrime.org

 

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

 

We all give our library security fund almost casually and most of us forget to claim it back at the end of the year. Thanks to this habit, at the School of Open Learning an amount of over Rs 18 crore has been found sitting in the varsity coffers.

An RTI application filed by Faculty of Law student Mohit K. Gupta revealed that SOL has a total unclaimed amount of Rs 18.25 crore as a result of the library security deposits made from 1997 to March 2017.

SOL Director C.S. Dubey asserted that the institution is now planning to use this money, accumulated over the last 20 years, to upgrade the library facilities. He added, “It is the student’s responsibility to claim the security refund back as a mechanism of any university.”

The finance branch of the University of Delhi has claimed that the lapsed security deposits are currently credited to the Vice-Chancellor’s Students Funds Account, which has allegedly been suspected of keeping funds of approximately Rs 1 crore.

The library security amount for undergraduate students from the year 1997 to 2000 was Rs 50 while for postgraduate students it was Rs 100. The amount was then increased to Rs 100 for UG students and Rs 150 for the PG students from the years 2000 to 2003.

As of now, the SOL charges Rs 200 from undergraduate students and Rs 500 from postgraduate students as the library security amount, which can be claimed once the course is over.

The buildup of funds via unacknowledged security deposits must be a story of various university libraries. Ideally, investments should be made out of such funds in the interests of the students.

 

Feature Image Credits: School of Open Learning

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

After a delay of over weeks, the admission process to distance learning courses of Delhi University has finally kickstarted with School of Open Learning (SOL) opening its registrations for its undergraduate courses.

The School of Open Learning is a trailblazer in the field of distance learning. Last year some 49,000 students had applied online to SOL by 21st July, 2016. The institution has also seen a steady rise in the number of applications each year.

Below is a step by step guide which will help you in the process of the admissions a more smooth one.

Step 1 – Registration.

Open: https://sol.du.ac.in/admission/LoginRegistration.aspx

Fill in your working email and mobile number. Then you will get a password on yor mail and mobile.

Step 2- Login

Open: https://sol.du.ac.in/admission/

Enter your user id and password. Click submit. 

Step 3- Course Details

Please enter the course details and click “Save”. Proceed to “Next” button. If you are a CBSE/ICSC/NOS student, fill in your year of passing and exam roll number. Then click on Check button.

Step 4- Personal Details.

Fill in the demographic details. Click “Save” and proceed to “Next” button

Step 5- Subject Details.

Plaese choose the subjects from drop down list. Click “Save” and proceed to “Next” button.

Step 6- Document Details

Upload the required documents. Click “Save” and proceed to “Next” button.

Step 7- Enrollment and verification .

Please verify all the details before proceeding for payment.  Read the declaration form and tick the “Check Box”. After verification click “Verify”.

Step 8- Select payment method.

Step 9- After the payment you’ll get your Roll no. and Fee receipt number.

Step 10- Click on “Print fee receipt” to view and download.

Step 11– Click on “Print ID Card” to view and download.

For any problem related to Online Registration / Admission, you can mail to [email protected].in 

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Earlier the admissions to the regular courses saw a change in its schedule, while the School of Open Learning has managed to stick to its earlier notice of starting its registrations on June 1st.

 

Image Credits: www.sol.du.ac.in

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]

 

 

Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) which runs various distance learning programmes is going to start ten new courses from the commencing academic year. The new courses will also include vocational courses. The governing board of SOL has already approved these courses which include BSc (honours) mathematics, BA (honours) history, and Bachelor of Vocation in human resource management. The director of SOL, Dr. C.S Dubey said “The course structure and syllabus has been formed and approved by the GB and was sent to DU for consideration. The university gave us a proforma to fill in the details, which we did and sent it to the university.”

The authorities observed that a large number of applicants who applied for these courses in regular colleges last year could not get admitted in these courses due to high cut offs and less number of seats. “When we studied the number of applications received for these courses, we found that many students had applied but only limited number got admission. There is a lot of demand for these courses among students so we are providing a chance for students to study these courses through distance medium,” said Dr. Dubey.

These courses will now require an approval from the university which will then need another approval from distance education board (DEB). The authorities will send the proposal for starting new courses to DEB soon. They are optimistic to start the admissions this year provided they get the approval from DEB.

The courses which have been approved are as follows:

  • BSc (honours) mathematics
  • BA (honours) history
  • BA (honours) economics
  • BA (honours) Hindi
  • BA (honours) psychology
  • BA (honours) Sanskrit
  • BA (honours) Hindi journalism
  • BVoc in human resource management
  • BVoc in office management and secretarial practices
  • BVoc in marketing management and retail business

 

SOL admits nearly 1.5 lakh students annually in various Bachelors and Masters Courses under Delhi University.

 

With inputs from: Hindustan Times

Image credits: DU Beat

 

Srivedant Kar

[email protected]

 

The School of Open Learning, Delhi University has recently opened admissions for undergraduates for session 2016. Read below to find out more about the process and the changing trend of increase in SOL Admissions.
The School of Open Learning opened its undergraduate admissions, 2016 from 15th July, 2016. An array of documents have to be uploaded in case of online registration.

Guidelines for SOL UG Admissions- 2016-17
Guidelines for SOL UG Admissions- 2016-17
Image credits www.sol.du.ac.in
Image credits
www.sol.du.ac.in

SOL provides the following courses for under graduation:-
B.A. (Programme)
B.A. (Hons.) English
B.A. (Hons.) Pol. Sc.
B.Com.
B.Com. (Hons.)
The admissions close on 30th August, 2016.
The School of Open Learning is a pioneer institution in the field of distance learning. Lately, the institution has seen a rise in the number of applicants year after year. As per admission data, 49,000 students had applied online to SOL by 21st July, 2016 said a report in Times of India.
The increase in the number of applicants can be traced to a number of reasons. The first and foremost reason is how applicants wish to pursue other courses like C.A and/or prepare for IAS papers. Getting enrolled in SOL gives them more time prepare for these exams. SOL has also been attracting a lot of students with high percentages. This year four students with a perfect percentage of 100 have enrolled themselves to SOL.
The high rate of influx is also a reflection of soaring cutoffs in DU. With many students not being able to make it into DU; SOL is a good option for students who do not wish to compromise on their education or haven’t been able to make it to a college of their choice even with a good percentage. Many students in SOL have percentages ranging between 80%-95%.
Another important aspect is the financial aspect. The annual fee for undergraduate courses approximately Rs. 3,500, relatively cheaper in comparison to DU colleges who’s annual fees ranges from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 18,000.

Featured image credits: www.thehindu.com

Akshara Srivastava
[email protected]