Delhi University
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be acknowledged in your name. |
Add-on courses
The Times of India, Jun 11 2016
Delhi University colleges aren't just good for bachelor's courses. Many of them also run short-term “add-on“ courses. These are either certificate courses in foreign languages or specialised courses and undergraduate research programmes.
The college running a co urse may even choose to allow students from other institutions to attend. Gargi College's courses on advertising and banking and financial services, for instance, are also open to students attending other colleges. “These are eight-month courses and roughly 50% of the class is from outside,“ says principal Shashi Tyagi.
The college also runs a German language course for students from within the college and, Tyagi adds, they may launch science courses on research methodology , biotechnology and green-chemistry . “For some of shorter, certificate courses, we don't charge at all. But for the longer, professional ones--such as the commerce courses--we do charge because we have many applicants from outside and hence, have to conduct exams as well. These are all very popular.“ Some of the science courses will be funded by grants from the Department of Biotechnology . Indraprastha College for Women has two newlylaunched centres--Centre for Earth Studies and Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies--that will run undergraduate research programmes among students enrolled in the college. Kamala Nehru College (KNC) runs a three-level certificate course in French that's self-financed but run in collaboration with DU's Department of Germanic and Romance Studies. It also has an add-on course on environment and eco-tourism which, says KNC spokersperson, Geetesh Nirban, is “majorly sponsored“ by Delhi government's department of environment.
Lady Shri Ram College has offered a Spanish course, levels one and two, for over five years. They also run shortterm courses on mathematical modelling and film appreciation. Typically , each batch has about 40-50 students. But in 2015, the college had offered a course on women and law that had 70. That programme was open to students from other colleges as well. The psychology department of the college is now in the process of designing a course on “peace psychology“. “Every year we put up a list and ask people if they would be interested in the courses. They are very popular,“ says teacher Rukshana Shroff.
Ramjas College's website lists over 20 short-term programmes including ones on “peace and conflict resolution“, “India in the era of globalisation“, “human rights studies“, “environmental management and law“, “film appreciation“, “mass media ethics studies“ and “development of entrepreneurship excellence“ and “Gandhigiri -reinterpreting Gandhi in modern context.“
Hansraj College offers “job-oriented“ courses including “radio-jockeying, anchoring and TV journalism“, “acting and film-making“ and “mass communication, journalism and marketing“, which are run in partnership with private firms.
Admissions
Documents aspiring students must submit
The Times of India, May 30 2016
Manash Gohain
13 documents you need to upload for DU registration
The registration process for undergraduate courses in Delhi University will be different this time as aspirants will have to upload their academic certificates and other documents. Earlier, they were only required to fill the form. The university has issued a list of 13 documents that will be required during registration, though all of them will not be mandatory for every aspirant. There will be one centralised registration form, expected to be an exhaustive one, for all categories of aspirants. Some documents that are mandatory for all candidates are Class X and XII certificates and marksheets; a scanned copy of signature; recent photograph; character certificate; transfer and migration certificates (for aspirants who completed their schooling outside Delhi).
According to officials, the university has made the complete process online and there will be no option of physical submission of documents. All the documents need to be self-attested. The officials added that the candidates should be careful in filling the form as incomplete forms will be rejected The online registration forms will be available from June 1 and the university is likely to notify the details on May 31.
On the online application forms, aspirants will get the details of colleges and the courses they offer. They will also get to know which colleges offer which sport under the ECA category . Those registering will also get to know the eligibility criteria through the form. Around 22 colleges will offer concession on cutoff for female candidates.
Mathematics will be compulsory for economics honours aspirants. Also, a candidate will be allowed to take economics even if she has not studied the subject at the Class XII level. the form.
Increase in marks after re-evaluation
Many Class XII students are now getting their CBSE re-evaluation results, but the increase in marks, if any, is of little use to them at least in the case of admissions to Delhi University (DU).
These students can use the fresh marks for admissions either under the third cutoff or subsequent lists, when most of the key courses in prominent colleges are no more available.
According to DU’s admission guidelines, while students will be eligible for admissions on the basis of their re-evaluation marks, there will be no admission in case the seats are over.
Bhavna Dahiya, a Delhi student who has secured admissions to Gargi College in political science (honours), said she wanted to take history at Kirori Mal College (KMC) with her new marks. “But I am yet to receive a formal mail from CBSE. I know my marks, but without the mail the college won’t take me. Right now, there are seats, but the admission closes today and they won’t have any seat in the fourth list,” she told TOI.
Dahiya claimed that the board had been delaying the official communication. “I was told a few days ago that an email would be sent by Wednesday afternoon, but I am yet to get any communication,” she said. “I worked hard and scored good marks to go to a good college. But for no fault of mine, I will have to let go what I want and settle for what I get.”
Sanjula Gupta, another candidate who has got admitted to Kamla Nehru College, also went to KMC but was turned away for the same reason.
Teachers at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) raised the issue, claiming that several students have approached them with new marks that would make them eligible even under the first list. But with no seat left, they are forced to turn the candidates away, a teacher said.
Last year, too, a similar situation had occurred, wherein students had moved the high court over reevaluation, and finally the university had to take in the qualifying students beyond the assigned number of seats even after the admission process was over.
HC: Admit students who qualified after re-evaluation
LSR, Hindu To Admit 1 Extra Student Each
Revaluation cannot be an exercise in futility, the Delhi high court has held in a ruling that will now govern the conduct of admissions by DU and the revaluation process of CBSE. Ordering DU to create one extra seat each in LSR and Hindu Colleges immediately for two students who qualified for the cutoff after revaluation but missed the last date, Justice Siddharth Mridul, in a ruling, directed CBSE and DU to bring their dates of declaration of revaluation results and cutoff for admissions in sync so that students didn’t suffer in future.
“It is axiomatic that when it comes to the admission of students, the University of Delhi, in terms of the decisions of this court, is required to be responsive to the needs of meritorious candidates lest the latter are denied freedom of choice on account of delay occasioned by CBSE, for no fault of the candidates. The interpretation of the guideline issued by DU must be liberal enough to prevent any miscarriage of justice. Even otherwise, the subject guideline is merely that, and cannot have the force of law,” Justice Mridul said.
Ensure reval is over before DU cutoffs are released: HC
Justice Mridul observed and asked Hindu and LSR Colleges to create extra seats to accommodate two students who qualified for admission as per the cutoff percentage. The HC rejected the stand of DU that as per its “bulletin of information” for the current academic session, colleges might consider admission of candidates whose marks got increased in the process of rechecking/revaluation within the prescribed period of admission.
DU argued that it could accommodate such students only if they met other eligibility conditions and if seats in the desired course, in a particular college of choice, were available at the relevant time.
Reminding DU that “rules or procedures are the handmaid of justice and not its mistress”, the HC as good as quashed the bulletin while asking the university to ensure that for the starting academic year, “the revaluated marks of the students are taken into account”. “The chairman of CBSE and the vice-chancellor of the University of Delhi are, consequently, directed to hold a meeting within four weeks… and arrive at a method whereby the completion of the revaluation process by the former precedes the cutoff date prescribed by DU for admission,” the HC further ordered.
It was hearing two separate petitions by students who were denied the course of their choice in these two colleges despite being eligible as per the cutoffs following the revaluated results that saw a surge in their marks and percentage.
Canteens, cafés, dhabas
Graphics
See 'Delhi University: North Campus cafes 1'
See 'Delhi University: North Campus cafes 2'
See 'Delhi University: North Campus cafes 1'
2016
The Times of India, Jun 27, 2016
Samir Devnani
Outside the classrooms, Delhi University's many canteens, tea stalls and chhola-kulcha stands provide a space where students can bond over a variety of pocketfriendly food items. Attracting a large number of `outsiders' are Panditji's at Gwyer Hall and Anna's at PG Men's Hostel. Anna's canteen still attracts alumni by the dozens. Manish Chauhan, who graduated from SGTB Khalsa College in 2009, still hangs out with his friends here. They get together nearly every evening at the canteen sharing a communal smoke, dosas and kathi rolls. The vegetarian kathi roll and masala dosa here still come for Rs 30 a plate; paneer dosa is for Rs 40.
Nirpendar Kumar, who graduated from Hindu College in 2014, eats only at DU canteens. “My seniors took me and my classmates to Anna's first,“ said Kumar, who subsequently initiated his juniors and still returns for veg pulao every now and then.
Deepu's tea stall on the DSE premises was established in 1970 and is still going strong. Visitors enjoy the student-friendly credit system the stall has instituted.
Some college canteens are similarly famous despite restricted entries. The Shri Ram College of Commerce has a bustling canteen which caters to about seven major colleges, but all are not affiliated to DU. Kumar Sanjay Singh of Aradhya Caterers believes that if colleges relax the access for canteens, it'll be better for business.
South Campus lies close to dozens of private cafeterias and restaurants, but also has a canteen in the premises.Another popular eatery for lovers of South Indian food is at Sri Venkateswara College.
Centralised registration
2016: Stephen's, JMC decide to join
The Times of India, May 24 2016
Stephen's, JMC to join centralised registration
Manash Gohain
The minority institutions affiliated to DU will be part of the centralised online registration system in 2016, the university admission committee decided.These institutions will, however, continue with their own admission policy for selecting students.
The committee also decided that 50% of the marks in the trial would be the eligibility mark for the sports and extracurricular activity (ECA) categories. In an earlier meeting, the committee had decided that the ECA trial cutoff would be at least 35%.
The minority institutions like St Stephen's and Jesus and Mary colleges opposed the move, said committee sources. But they were told that only registration would be part of the centralised system, said R N Dubey , a member of the admission committee. The Sikh minority colleges will also be covered by the decision.
Following a letter from the HRD ministry , DU will offer 5% of its seats to Kashmiri migrants who are registered in Delhi or Jammu. “A maximum of 10% point relaxation can be granted in the cutoff to fill up these seats, which will be in addition to the regular seats,“ said a source.
DU generally declares the admission policy by the second week of May . However, while the university is going to start the online registration process later this week, there is still no official word on the policy . The university is finalising details, said sources.
Though sources said the admission process would start on May 28, there is no official confirmation yet. Earlier, the university used to conduct its first open house around this time.
Cluster Innovation Centre
2019: Not much progress
School of Journalism, 2017-19
From: Shradha Chettri and Mohammad Ibrar, Dec 26, 2019 The Times of India
See graphic:
DU’s Cluster Innovation Centre, 2011-19; School of Journalism, 2017-19
Colleges
Autonomous colleges
See graphic:
What autonomy means for a college
2017: Colleges that upgraded facilities
Several Delhi University colleges have been trying to improve their infrastructure. This was also necessitated by need for repairs, especially in the case of Daulat Ram College where classroom roofs were coming apart. As the fresh batches start joining this year, many colleges hope they would be able to provide some much-needed facilities for all-round education.
Deen Dayal Upadhyay College has moved into a sprawling campus spread over 11.5 acres this year, putting on offer facilities and space like never before. Come this admission season, brand new classes and freshly painted buildings are all set to welcome the newest batch of applicants.
The principal, S K Garg, said it had only been eight months since they moved to the new campus and a lot of work was still under progress. “But now, with more space, we have new hostel blocks and accommodation for the faculty . Our campus is eco-friendly it has an in-house sewage treatment plant and a rainwater harvesting system, and we are planning to set up a composting plant. Our solar panels are being installed,“ he said. The new building gives the faculty its own lab to conduct research, for which Rs 3 crore has been allotted. One of the most striking parts on the campus is the library . “It is spread over three floors, 10,000 square feet each, complete with an e-resource centre,“ said Garg. The e-resource centre will give access to a range of online journals, including the best like the Oxford and Cambridge publications.
Last year, the dilapidated condition of the decade-old Daulat Ram College building led to a number of roof collapses, which pushed the administration to finally earmark funds for renovation.At present, a part of the college is out of bounds for students because of the construction work, but most parts of the building are ready with smart classes and hi-tech science labs. Principal Savita Roy said the work was carried out in phases so that the college kept running.“We managed to create a lot more space and rooms on the campus because of this construction work, which can now accommodate more students and activity centres,“ she told TOI.
The old canteen has been converted into an auditorium, while the canteen has been moved outdoors. Along with that, classrooms have been revamped with new desks and chairs, tiled floor, stronger roof and smart boards with projectors.
Similarly , Hansraj College too has upgraded its facilities, and added a yoga room and a gym to the campus. “We have also renovated our auditorium and constructed another seminar hall.CCTVs are also being installed,“ said Rama Sharma, principal of the college. The campus will also house a creche for the kids of employees. However, Sharma said the college is falling short of funds. “Till now we had been using UGC funds for renovation costs, but we are slowly going low on funds. I have made several requests to all stakeholders for generation of funds,“ she said.
Ram Lal Anand college too has expanded its library and added an elevator to the college for disabled students.Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College has added two seminar halls, a conference room and a new floor with 14 classrooms -each can accomodate 50.“Several other academic and sports facilities have been added,“ said Gyantosh Jha, principal of ARSD.
Community Radio (DUCR)
During the admission season
Mohammad Ibrar, DU radio to answer your queries, May 25, 2017: The Times of India
Help is in the air for students and parents anxious to get their queries addressed about admissions to Delhi University colleges.
The varsity's Community Radio (DUCR) has launched two programmes -DU ki Hulchul and Admission Express -on its FM frequency 90.4 MHz to help admission seekers. Apart from that, the broadcasters will also reach out to their intended audience on social media through Facebook Live and YouTube videos.
DUCR will continue to air the special programmes twice daily till May 30, when the cutoff lists are released. “After that we will have a special programme on cutoffs. We will make videos in front of colleges and provide information about their infrastructure, cutoffs, courses and faculty . These videos will be live on our Facebook page and can be viewed on YouTube as well,“ said Deepak Kumar, an MA political science student at Kirori Mal College, who has been volunteering at DUCR for three years.
“We also have an app called DURadio that can be downloaded by students of south and off-campus colleges as the radio station has a range of only 13km,“ said another broadcaster Anil, a student of Delhi School of Economics and a graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce. The broadcasters said that the programmes are for those who could not attend the Open Day . “Our volunteers recorded the Open Day so we could play it for those students who couldn't attend it. More volunteers will join us after their exams get over,“ said DUCR assistant consultant, Isaac John. The volunteers are usually students from colleges like Miranda House, IP College and others where they get training in a real radio studio.
In DU Ki Hulchul, information on the admission process, cutoffs, Open Days and admission dates are broadcast. Admission Express airs recordings of Open Day sessions and gives information about colleges. They also broadcast the dean of students' welfare's sessions with aspirants.
“Earlier, we had a mobile phone number and WhatsApp to answer the queries of students. We have decided to use Facebook now because our studio was flooded with continuous calls last year,“ Deepak Kumar said.
Students manning the radio station believe that by viewing the 30-minute videos and listening to the broadcasts most students and parents can get their doubts resolved. However, they don't have a live response system. “We need updates and better equipment, which is possible only after we have a consultant's approval. But the post has been vacant for months,“ said a volunteer.
Cut-off marks
2011-2015
See graphic:
Delhi University: subject- wise ‘cut-off’ lists, 2011-2015, for 10 leading colleges, including LSR, SRCC, Hindu and Sri Venkateswara
2015-17: Arts, commerce: the preferred subjects
Manash Gohain, Five courses that may take top honours, yet again, June 9, 2018: The Times of India
Elsewhere on this page, please also see the graphic ‘2015-17: the subjects (arts and commerce) and languages, Indian and foreign, preferred by undergraduates.’
All eyes will be on Delhi University this June 19 for its famed cutoff lists, which have touched 100% multiple times in the past four years. Going by the trend in last three years, it’s likely that the toughest courses to get through in the arts and commerce stream will be the honours courses in psychology, economics, journalism, English and BCom. The competition for admission might be tougher with the average cutoff of 95% and above best of four aggregate for the courses, barring English.
Based on the trend analysis of the cutoffs for last three years, the honours course had gone up in 2017 from the third most sought after course in 2015 for general category. Even for the reserved category, its average cutoff never fell below 90% in aggregate in last four years.
While traditional courses like political science and history fell out of the top five in the average cutoff list since 2015, the journalism honours course has surprisingly risen in popularity. In fact, in 2015 it had the highest average cutoff
(96.8%), and dropped to second place with 96.7% average aggregate in 2016 and third place with 96.5% average aggregate in 2017.
Among the traditional favourites, economics and English honours maintained their popularity among the top five courses in the arts and commerce stream. BCom (honours) too is in the top five.
“These are the courses which likely to be have the steepest cutoffs this year as well. Journalism could be the only course whose cutoff may dip marginally. This could open up the space for courses like sociology, replacing one of them in the best average cutoff this year,” said a senior official, from the Dean of Students’ Welfare office.
2015
See graphic:
Delhi University: College- and subject- wise ‘cut-off’ lists
2015-17: The Sciences: the preferred subjects
Manash Gohain, Plain vanilla BSc making way for applied sciences, June 12, 2018: The Times of India
From: Manash Gohain, Plain vanilla BSc making way for applied sciences, June 12, 2018: The Times of India
Four Courses As Good With Avg Cutoff Of 95% Or More
A dozen science courses offered at the undergraduate level at Delhi University have emerged among the most sought after in the past three years, indicating a trend that a simple BSc (mathematics) or chemistry (honours) is no longer that attractive. Increased employment opportunities and wider acceptance of these programmes across the industry are making courses like biomedical science, BSc (electronics), polymer science and instrumentation among the top choices at DU.
Four of the listed courses (see graphic) have an average cutoff of 95% and above and are ahead of many of the traditional science courses like chemistry, zoology, botany or geography, among others. Aspirants now prefer an honours course in food technology or microbiology or even a non-honours BSc in applied physical science with biochemistry.
In fact, BSc (H) in instrumentation recorded an average cutoff aggregate of 94.5% in 2016. BSc in applied physical science with industrial chemistry is another emerging subject that has seen a significant upswing in its cutoff in the past three years.
“The reason is that these are practical courses which bring employment opportunities and the most you need to study is till master’s unlike the others which are theoretical and academic. And not all are cut out for the job of a scientist. Even engineering is an applied science and so are these. Moreover, students enjoy application-based study as one can relate to the work and they can see where they are heading career-wise,” said career counsellor Pervin Malhotra.
Another reason for the high cutoff for these courses in DU is that they are not commonly available in other universities. Moreover, top scorers in the science stream in Class XII keep these courses as backup options in case they don’t make it to engineering or IITs and NITs of their choices. “Colleges, too, enrol more than the capacity as many drop out after engineering and medical counselling and even at a later stage,” said a senior official of the dean of students’ welfare office at DU.
2015-17: The vocational courses
Mohammad Ibrar, June 14, 2018: The Times of India
From: Mohammad Ibrar, June 14, 2018: The Times of India
Getting into Delhi University is getting tougher by the day. This year, someone wanting to study sociology, for instance, is likely to vie with 209 others for one seat. So where does that leave student with an aggregate percentage below 95? For those with a pragmatic bent of mind, perhaps vocational courses are the best bet.
For one, courses such as tourism management and human resource management are designed “with an academic-cum-professional base” to prepare a student for a career. More significantly, these skill-based courses, introduced two years ago, allow easier entry because of lower eligibility points. For instance, at Jesus and Mary College, the Bachelor of Vocation (BVoc) courses in health management and retail management had the cutoff at 84% and 84.5%, respectively, in 2017. Compare this to the 98.5% required for economics and 97% for commerce in the same college last year.
DU offers several vocational courses, seven of them at the College of Vocational Studies, and they are becoming popular. CVS principal Inderjeet Dagar agreed that the relatively lower qualifying marks and the job prospects opened up by the courses attract the students. He reasoned that courses like tourism management, retail business and human resource management are “in high demand in the market because they train student for the industry even while they are getting their degree, unlike in the conventional academic courses”.
In the vocational subjects, students learn skills and get hands-on training, including visits to industrial areas. The BVoc programme was designed by the University Grants Commission according to the Union ministry of skill development’s National Skill Qualification Framework.
At CVS, the courses offered for the BVoc degree are printing technology, web designing, health care management, retail management & information technology, banking operations, software development and an advance diploma in TV programme & news production.
Sudhir Rinten, who teaches the advance diploma in TV programme & news production course at Maharaja Agrasen College, reiterated the BVoc courses “focus on skill development based on higher education”. He said, “The degree has multiple entry and exit points and provides a mix of skills relating to a profession and appropriate content of general education, so that students are work-ready at each exit point of the programme.”
Rinten elaborated on the curriculum and said each BVoc course had two components. “These are the General Education Components and the Skill Education Components in a ratio of 40:60,” he pointed out. The duration of the programme is three years, but there’s flexibility in the exit point with a diploma and an advanced diploma being awarded, respectively, for completing the first and second year of the course.
2015-18: St. Stephen’s
Mohammad Ibrar, Big jump in science cutoffs at Stephen’s, June 12, 2018: The Times of India
From: Mohammad Ibrar, Big jump in science cutoffs at Stephen’s, June 12, 2018: The Times of India
The cutoff trajectory at St Stephen’s College, one of Delhi University’s most prestigious institutes, is both up and down this year: while some courses have seen a consecutive dip, the majority of them are on the rise. The BA (Programme) and physics courses, particularly, have seen a sharp jump from their cutoffs the previous year.
In the first cutoff list, released late on June 11, courses like Sanskrit were found to be in a nosedive with cutoffs this year decreasing 5% from 70% in 2017. The minority institute has its own admission procedure and separate cutoffs for students finishing school from the science, commerce and humanities streams. Last year, the college, in an attempt at transparency, had revealed the ratio of students versus seats for interviews. The year 2017 saw a dip in cutoffs from the previous year, especially for the humanities stream.
1.5% jump in Stephen’s cutoff for BA course in science stream
It was believed the fall would increase the number of students arriving for interviews. This, according to the college, was done so that they would have more students to interview and select from.
The college declared the ratios of students versus seats for interviews for this year: for those from the humanities stream, four applicants, and six Christian applicants, would be called for every seat, while for science, six applicants, and eight Christian applicants, would be interviewed.
For general category students the situation is similar to 2017 when the ratio was four students per seat in the humanities stream and six students per seat for the sciences. This ratio means that even those who rank below the top scorers will be considered for an aptitude test and interview.
The interview process will begin from June 18 with mathematics and will go on till the sports interviews on July 5 and July 6, to be conducted after the sports trials.
Candidates are required to submit all their original documents not later than July 31 or else they will lose their admission. Unlike last year where there was a dip by around 0.5% in the humanities, this year the cut-offs have been increased by around 0.25% to 0.50%.
The first cut-off for the popular BA (Programme) course has gone up from 95% last year to 95.5% this year in the humanities stream while it has seen a big jump of 1.5% in the science stream — 98% as against 96.5% last year. Similarly, for students coming from the commerce stream, the cut-off now stands at 98%, a 1% rise from 2017.
Interestingly, Sanskrit, which had a cut-off of 80% for students from the commerce stream in 2016, and which dipped last year, has plunged to 65% for students from all three streams — the humanities, sciences and commerce.
English, which was in the news because the cut-offs for it came to 99% in 2015 and 2016 for those from the commerce stream, saw a drop last year. This year, there has been no change in cut-offs for students from the science and commerce streams as they stand at 98% and 98.5%, respectively. However, the cut-off for those from the humanities stream has increased marginally to 97.5%, a rise of 0.25% from 2017. Admissions in the subject, however, carry a rider — it is mandatory for an aspirant to have scored 90% in his/her English core subject or 85% in English elective in Class 12.
The Economics (Honours) course at the college has seen a 0.25% to 0.5% increase in the cut-off. However, to apply, an aspirant should have scored 90% in mathematics in Class 12.
For candidates with a science background, the first cut-off is a mixed bag. While the cut-off for chemistry has dipped by 0.33% and now stands at 96%, and the cut-off for the BSc (Programme) PCM is now at 94.66% as opposed to 95% last year, cutoffs have seen a huge jump in physics which now stands at 97.33%, which is what it was in 2016, as opposed to 96.66% in 2017. There is a sharp rise of 0.5% in the cut-off for the Mathematics (Honours) course for students from all three streams. To apply, however, it is mandatory for aspirants to include their Class 12 mathematics score as part of their “best four” school subjects.
2016
See graphic:
Cut-offs in Delhi University, college-wise, 2016
2017
From: Vaishnavi Kaushik, This is what it took to get into DU last year. Will it be enough this time?, May 28, 2018: The Times of India
Volunteers come to the rescue of DU aspirants
As one enters the conference hall of Delhi University (North Campus), the eyes fall on the “volunteer” card-carrying heroes. They’re a group of 12, who stand outside the conference hall solving every problem raised by those aspiring to get admitted.
These volunteers have been specially deputed by the dean of student welfare to help aspirants get through the admission season as they flood the university corridors with their questions.
The volunteers are students of DU, half of whom are going to graduate this year. Appointed by the placement cell, they work throughout the academic session, especially during placements, conferences and open day sessions. They not only clear the doubts of students and their parents regarding the admission process, but also help faculty members and assist the differently-abled to ensure that the open-day sessions prove hassle free.
These young people are also the technical backbone of the university, handling heavy presentations during open days.
“Interacting with people on a daily basis helps with our communication skills,” said Tanveer Warid Rahman, one of the volunteers. Rahman is studying geography in Bhagat Singh College and wants to become a teacher after his masters. “I’m getting to understand how to answer questions, which will be of great help once I take up teaching,” he added.
Along with the experience, the volunteers will get a stipend of Rs 250 per day, along with a certificate. During the open-day sessions, they work from 9am to 5pm.
However, they don’t just answer queries about admission. The volunteers are also asked the most random of questions, ranging from why the ACs isn’t working to what one must study to rake in the money. “Some questions are enough for our entertainment,” quipped Ankit, another volunteer.
2018
LSR cutoffs highest
From: Krittika Sharma & Mohammad Ibrar, DU cutoffs: LSR’s BA prog highest at 98.75%, June 19, 2018: The Times of India
The colleges at which the cutoffs dropped most sharply between 2017 and 2018
Expectations of very high cutoffs at Delhi University colleges this year only partially came true as the first list was released on Monday night, with several colleges deciding to keep the bar at more “realistic” levels.
For instance, Khalsa college, which had the highest cutoff last year for BSc Electronics at 99.66%, tempered it down to 97%. At some colleges, however, the bar got higher. The highest cutoff was recorded at Lady Shri Ram College for its BA program at 98.75% (95.5% in 2017), followed by SRCC’s Economics course at 98.5%, from 97.75% in 2017.
Cutoffs more ‘realistic’ this time, but BA(P) toughest to get into at 98.75%
The main reason for lower cutoffs at many colleges was the access that principals had for the first time this year to cutoffs released by all colleges. A majority of subjects have seen a drop in cutoffs in colleges such as Aryabhatta, Khalsa, Ramjas, Shri Aurobindo (evening), Vivekananda and Zakir Husain colleges.
Despite a significant drop across the board, certain subjects will still stay out of reach for a majority of aspirants in the first list. Colleges have kept cutoffs high for several sought-after courses such as BCom (hons), which have remained at 91% and higher. Similarly, no cutoff for Economics is below 94%, for Psychology below 93% and for BA English below 91%.
The highest jump was recorded in BA Sanskrit at Kirori Mal College with a 10% point spike from last year. The cutoffs this year is 70%, up from 60% last year. The cutoff at Janki Devi Memorial College rose from 87% to 94.5% in Political Science while the BA program at Shri Aurobindo college (morning) saw a jump from 85% to 87% this year.
The biggest drop in cutoff was seen in Hindi at colleges like Aryabhatta, Khalsa, Hindu, Gargi, Ramanujan, Ramjas and Vivekananda.
Among science subjects, Physics was the most popular course with the cutoff touching 98% at Hindu college.
Sri Venkateswara College also recorded a high cutoff of 97%, a hike from last year’s 96.33%.
This year the university allowed colleges to view each other’s cutoffs before these were made public, so as to make sure that the colleges keep the bar at reasonable levels. The exercise resulted in colleges such as Ramjas college lowering their initial cutoffs.
Ramjas principal Manoj Sinha said, “This year we decided on more realistic cutoffs.” The college’s first list saw a dip of between 0.5 to 5 percentage points as compared to last year.
However, it did not work the same way for all colleges. Vipin Agarwal, principal of Shri Aurobindo College (morning), said cutoffs were increased for courses such as the BA (prog), which had initially been pegged at 85% before being finally released at 87%. “It is usual for north campus colleges to keep their cutoffs high. But several off-campus institutes also had their cutoffs pegged unrealistically high. We had to revise our cutoffs after looking at them. We are afraid of getting too many students at lower cutoffs if these are not matched by other colleges,” he said.
Admissions on the first cutoff will be held from Tuesday to Thursday (both days inclusive) from 9.30am to 1.30pm for morning colleges, and 4pm to 7pm for evening colleges. Once admissions have been approved by the college, applicants must log on to DU UG admission portal and pay the fees online. The payment of fees can be done until Thursday noon. The second cutoff will be released next Monday (June 25).
The top choices of Class XII toppers
Mohammad Ibrar, Perfect 100 scorers crowd humanities, July 10, 2018: The Times of India
From: Mohammad Ibrar, Perfect 100 scorers crowd humanities, July 10, 2018: The Times of India
English (H), BA (P) And Political Science (H) Courses Get Over 1 Lakh Applications Each
In Delhi University, English (honours) has been the most preferred course among applicants with 1.26 lakh of them showing interest. It is also the most preferred subject among toppers.
Some stats should give one an idea: 74 applicants have 100% aggregate and 76 have 99%. And this was just the topmost layer. High scorers continued to apply until the fourth cutoff list. And that explained why the cutoffs remained high.
Other courses like BA (programme) also had a crowding of toppers. As many as 57 with a perfect 100% applied for this course while 202 others had between them 99% and 98% aggregate scores. The course overall received 1.05 lakh applications.
Another course in the humanities stream that received over a lakh applications is political science (honours), which again has a fair number of top scorers. There
are 43 having a 100% score, 78 with 99-100%, and 183 with 98-99% scores.
A DU official explained why humanities courses have such high numbers: “It is likely because many boards give a lot of marks to subjects like psychology and history. Even the CBSE topper this year from humanities had scored 100 in all her subjects.”
In comparison, science subjects had a smaller share of toppers. Mathematics had 43 applicants with a perfect 100, while physics had just eight.
BCom (programme) received 22 applications from perfect 100 holders while only six applied for BCom (honours). Why less interest in the honours course? “That’s because mathematics is not compulsory in the BCom (programme). And only a few students scored full marks in maths, most of them from boards in south Indian states,” a DU official said.
High cutoffs are often criticised, but colleges say it helps them to fill up their seats with high scorers early. “We get the data from DU and then assess the high scorers that we can capture,” said SRCC principal Simrit Kaur.
SGTB Khalsa College principal Jaswinder Singh added that “cutoffs are reasonable and based only on the number of students we can get legitimately”. Khalsa has had the highest cutoffs in electronics and political science.
2019
From: June 28, 2019: The Times of India
See graphic, ' Delhi University, college-wise cut-offs, 2019 '
Delhi School of Journalism
2019: status
Shradha Chettri and Mohammad Ibrar, Dec 26, 2019 The Times of India
In 2013-14, the Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) in Delhi University was being talked about as far afield as Israel. The Israeli embassy was interested in a study done by CIC students in a village in Malkapur, Maharashtra, and had contacted the university. Cut to 2019, close to a decade since its establishment, and CIC projects are limited to the city. The reason: lack of finances and red tape in sanctioning of funds. Faculty recruitment has also been bogged down.
CIC was established in 2011 to encourage undergraduate research through a trans-disciplinary approach. Accordingly, the three courses running in the centre are uniquely designed: BTech in information technology and mathematical innovation, BA in humanities and social science and MSc in mathematical education. For these courses, students are required to take up projects to find innovative solutions to real-life problems, which are then incubated at the Design Innovation Centre (DIC). Some projects that have had their genesis at CIC include Crumblyy and Survaider.
When a new vice-chancellor, Yogesh Tyagi, took over from Dinesh Singh in 2016 and there were administrative changes, CIC also braced for new developments. It was hoped that the innovation projects being given to the colleges with Rs 10 lakh funding for the purpose would instead find their way to the centre. But as a CIC student related, “After the new VC took charge, everything became complicated. Offline payments stopped and to purchase anything, we were required to go through a lengthy process of going via the government e-marketplace (GEM).” Under the new regulations, any purchase of above Rs 15,000 has to be routed through this process.
The kinks that this regulation has introduced irk students. One of them said, “It was to prevent fraud that things were made difficult. Earlier, we bought something in the director's name and got the bills reimbursed. Now we have to bid for the stuff on GEM. If the item we need is not available on GEM, there’s nothing we can do. To give you an example, for six months now, we haven’t been able to get graphics processing units for AI. How can we complete projects in this manner?”
The faculty members also highlighted the need for financing flexibility. “The approach at CIC was totally different because we don’t carry out projects for the purpose of publishing papers. Our projects are to turn our designs into models,” explained Pankaj Tyagi, programme coordinator, mathematics education. “For innovation, we require flexibility and help from the administration. This is where we are facing much difficulty.”
Saleem Mir, co-ordinator of the humanities programme, thought this would pose a challenge to the growth of CIC. “Though there is no serious constraint in funds for humanities projects mainly because our works relate mostly to Delhi-NCR, the other courses do need some flexibility,” said Mir, who has been at CIC since its inception. Despite the odds, he has overseen interesting projects, among them on ewaste management, organic food tourism and constitutional literacy.
Some students expressed disappointment of not having their expectation met by CIC. A third-year BTech student said, “I chose CIC because its curriculum was better than the options in other colleges and for every subject we had to complete projects and internships. I came with a lot of expectations, but over the years things have changed and CIC isn’t our seniors used to describe it.”
Mir spoke of the need for CIC to grow, specifically to having more master’s degree and PhD courses. “CIC has a lot of potential and research can bring long-term solutions,” he said.
Former CIC director M Chaturvedi too said projects could actually be a source of revenue for the entire university. “DU can earn revenue in the long run by investing in companies incubated at CIC, as universities abroad do,” he said.
DU officials refused to comment on the issue inspite of being contacted several times.
English proficiency courses
The Times of India, Jun 07 2016
While study material in Hindi is still scarce for most subjects in Delhi University, there's help available with English. Several colleges run English proficiency courses, free or self-financed, to help students who struggle with the language. Indraprastha College for Women launched an English course as a part of its “Diversity Integration Programme“ last year. The 40session course ends in a certificate for those with at least 85% attendance. The modules were designed and originally delivered by a retired teacher from the English department of the college. “We have students from different backgrounds and the average student's English communication and language skills are very poor. But proficiency in English is important for accessing further levels of higher education and also employment,“ says principal Babli Moitra Saraf.
The course is free, has already run for two semesters and is meant primarily for final-year students. It runs a computer literacy programme as well. Several colleges run the English Language Proficiency Course, a largely self-financed programme that was originally designed by teachers from the Institute of Lifelong Learning and Department of Education. It is a standard 80-hour curriculum, delivered over three months, and has been popular despite running into patches of funding trouble.
Manoj Garg, convenor for the classes at Acharya Narendra Dev College, which is primarily a science-teaching institution, says that they get as many as 100-120 applications for a 35-seat batch that includes a test after 76 hours.
Extra-curricular activities quota
Hard work is required
Requirement To Participate In All Activities Hurts Attendance
Students applying for admission to Delhi University under ECA category should be ready to strike a balance between academics and extracurricular activities. Many times these students miss out on the five marks set aside for attendance in each subject. These marks add up to 20 to 25 marks in a student's overall aggregate in each semester.
The admissions in-charge for ECA, DU, Shalini Chandra, said that students taking admission under the ECA category should have a strong commitment towards their activity .
“Students are expected to devote at least three hours every day if they have taken admission under the ECA category. But this is variable as more hours are spent on activities during the college fest season, while there is no activity during exams,“ said Chandra.
The students' orientation to the college society , where they attend workshops or are mentored by seniors lasts for around six to eight months, till the college fest starts.
“We often miss out on classes and have to perpetually juggle with studies and participation in the activities, which can get exhausting. Besides, there are tons of other issues like permission problems, cost factor (for participation) and erratic timings,“ said Ujjwal Parashar, an ECA (debating) student of Hansraj College.
During admissions, ECA students are required to sign an undertaking that they will perform for the college at events. College representatives said students are given attendance when they go to perform at competitions and events.
Students who attend clas ses regularly manage to secure marks set aside for attendance, which often help them bridge the final gap and secure 60% marks, while others miss out on first division marginally .Few colleges like Kirori Mal College offers attendance benefit of upto 33%.
“Delhi University gives a relief in percentage on account of their talent during admission. So ECA students should wisely strike a balance between performances -that is expected of them -and academics to clear their three years of graduation properly ,“ said Geetesh Nirban, spokesperson of Kamala Nehru College. The college offers 23 seats under ECA category .
Colleges have fixed timings for ECA practice sessions, which usually don't clash with regular classes. However, students taking part in these may miss out on afternoon or extra classes. Thereafter, students are given the minimum attendance marks which often fail to give them more than 1% benefit in their semester exam marks.
“Things get hectic during the fest season when we usually have practices and performances every day . However, we get sufficient time to study during exams if we manage our time well,“ said Gargi Vashisht, ECA (dramatics) student in Hansraj College.
Principal of Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College Gyantosh Kumar Jha said that students who travel to other cities or go out in the day for competitions are given attendance accordingly so that they don't face any problem during exams.“We have a separate attendance register for ECA students, maintained by the cultural convenor of the specific society .This is taken into consideration when the final attendance is calculated,“ he added.
2016 quotas
See Delhi University, the quota for extra-curricular activities, including sports
International students
Converting `foreign' grades
The Times of India, June 3, 2016
Delhi University converts the grades that students of international boards, such as International Baccalaureate or University of Cambridge, obtain to CBSE or state board-level marks to bring parity among those seeking admissions. For example, if a student has secured a score of seven in IB board, then hisher marks are considered in the bracket of 96-100%. Somebody who gets 6 is considered in the 83-95% bracket.
2014-20: numbers
From: Shradha Chettri, Nov 11, 2019: The Times of India
See graphic:
2014-20: the number of International students in DU.
2017: 2,735 applications received for undergraduation
With the admission season all set to begin, Delhi University has received 2,735 applications from foreign nationals in 2017 for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Till now, there has been an increase of 10% in the number of applications by foreign students as compared to last year. The last date for submitting forms is expected to be extended till June 15.
Out of all the applications received till now, maximum are from Tibetan students -mostly residing in India -followed by those from Nepal and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, DU has also received 75 applications from United States nationals, mostly comprising students born in US and raised in India.
The number of students applying to the university for undergraduate courses have always been the highest as compared to postgraduate co urses over the years. “There has been a considerable rise in the number of applications this year as compared to 2016 and we are expecting more forms once the deadline is extended,“ said Ashutosh Bharadwaj, officer on special duty , admissions. “The students will be allotted colleges on the basis of merit according to their choice of course preference,“ he added.
While the maximum number of students opt for subjects like B.Com (Hons), B.A (Hons) Political Science and B.A (Hons) Economics, a course in an Indian language like Sanskrit or Hindi is a favourite among European students. The university received 26 applications from British nationals and few also from students based in countries like Italy and France.
“The students hardly put across any specific college preference but mainly choose to study at an institution close to their hostels in North Campus,“ said an administrative member of the Office of International Students and Scholars. Most of the foreign students stay at the International House hostels in North Campus.
The university also received 120 applications from students belonging to 20 countries in Africa. Maximum students applied from Ethopia (38) and Nigeria (48).
At co-educational colleges/ 2018-19
Indpaedia’s note of caution: The article below says that the ‘gender ratio remains skewed at most DU colleges.’ It does not mention that women vastly outnumber men in Delhi university, that there are 22 women-only colleges and perhaps no men-only colleges. Therefore, please read the two sub-sections above before reading the post below, which seems to be about co-educational colleges alone.
Shradha Chettri & Mohammad Ibrar, June 14, 2019: The Times of India
From: Shradha Chettri & Mohammad Ibrar, June 14, 2019: The Times of India
Concessions or not, gender ratio remains skewed at most DU colleges
Some Attribute It To Lack Of Girls’ Hostels, Others Say They Offer Equal Space To All
New Delhi:
In many colleges of Delhi University, there is a big gap between the enrolment of male and female students, among them the popular Kirori Mal College and Hindu College. There has been an attempt by some institutions to attract more girls by allowing a concession in the aggregate percentage for specified subjects, but not all colleges are as generous to the women aspirants.
At Kirori Mal, where girls comprise 30% of the student body, principal Vibha Singh Chauhan conceded the gender ratio was skewed, but insisted, “The college provides equal space and amenities to all students, irrespective of whether they are boys or girls.”
She speculated that the probable reason why the college had fewer girls in the rolls was because “we don’t have a girls’ hostel”. Chauhan added, “Many women applicants say they prefer admission in a college with a hostel because their parents feel more comfortable if they are accommodated on the campus rather than in rented places outside.”
While saying that Kirori Mal was contemplating the construction of a girls’ hostel and “we are looking for funding”, Chauhan also disclosed that the college could consider a 1% relaxation in the aggregate percentage for girls next year “to increase girl students’ enrolment”.
While KMC claims that the absence of a girls’ hostel might be the primary reason for fewer girls enrolling, Hindu College, which has a girls’ hostel running since last year, also has only 39% women among its students. Principal Anju Srivastava could not specifically explain the skewed proportion. “We’ve always had a near equal girls-to-boys ratio,” she said. “Yes, last year we took in a smaller number of girls, but that was a one-off occurrence. Intake of more women depends on the number of high scorers among the girl applicants.”
The relaxation of 1% in percentages allowed in various subjects in 18 DU colleges has helped change the male-female proportions in those institutions. Earlier the quantum of the concession was varied, but in the last few years the figure has come to be fixed at 1% for arts, science and commerce courses. Vipin Aggarwal, principal of Aurobindo College, for instance said that the special rebate has taken the percentage of girls in his college from 25% earlier to almost 35% now.
Dyal Singh College has extended the concession to most subjects, 22. Asked why, principal I S Bakshi, explained that the aim was to “support girl students and to encourage girls from the marginalised sections to step forward”. The college, however, is yet to attain gender parity, and Bakshi said, “Through the rebates, we want to make sure that we have girls comprising at least 50% of our students.”
2018: Nepalese applicants top
Max foreign applicants from Nepal, June 16, 2018: The Times of India
The Foreign Students Registry (FSR) has received over 3,000 applications, including those forwarded by the ICCR as well as self-sponsored ones. The maximum applications were from Nepal and Tibet.
The data provided by FSR stated that 317 applications were received from Nepal, 316 from Tibet and 111 from Afghanistan. Forty five people applied from Bangladesh, 11 from Sri Lanka, nine from China and two from Pakistan.
Comparatively, there have been more applications from the US and the UK, 48 and 16, respectively.
Officials said political science and humanities were some of the popular courses among foreign students. The university has received 1,300 applications forwarded by the ICCR and 1,704 by self-sponsored students.
2016-21
From: Mohammad Ibrar, July 7, 2021: The Times of India
See graphic:
International students in Delhi University, 2016-21
2021-22
Shinjini Ghosh, Dec 8, 2021: The Times of India
Intake of foreign students at DU up, most from Af
Shinjini.Ghosh@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:
The intake of foreign students at Delhi University this time has already exceeded that of the academic year 2020-21, according to officials. More than 600 international students have been admitted so far, compared to about 550 last year. The number is likely to go up as the university has offered admissions to over 2,000 foreign students.
With over 100 students, Afghanistan accounts for the highest number of admissions offered. Till now, 80 of them have accepted. This is followed by Nepal, with 60-odd admissions offered by DU
2021-23/ 24
Shradha Chettri, Oct 15, 2023: The Times of India
From: Shradha Chettri, Oct 15, 2023: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: For the first time, one student each from Israel, Ecuador, Guatemala and Sweden has been admitted to Delhi University this year, according to details provided by the foreign students' registry office. However, the total number of overseas students admitted has seen a marginal decline from 623 in 2022-23 to 614 this year.
Amarjiva Lochan, joint dean of foreign students, DU, said, "There are 30 more students who have applied for PhD admission.
There are two ways foreign candidates are admitted to DU: Applicants processed through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and those self-financed or with scholarships other than of ICCR. Foreign nationals seeking admission in any course are exempted from the entrance test but their admission is based on the merit list.
Of the 614 admitted this year, 400 are in the undergraduate category. The colleges popular among foreign students are Miranda House, Hansraj and Kirori Mal, with Ramjas College registering fewer applications this year. "This time, we tried to popularise women's colleges such as Maitreyi College and Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women," said Lochan.
This time, youngsters from Nepal, Bangladesh and Tibet make up a large part of the foreign students. But compared with the past years, applicants from Bangladesh and Tibet are fewer this year. The university received around 10 applications from Afghanistan, after DU had received the largest number of applications from that country in 2021. "We have seen of late that many students from these three countries seek admission in private universities in Bengaluru that provide dual degrees," added Lochan.
Among the newer countries, Israel is a new one, with students from there being admitted to political science (Hons). A student from Ecuador has got the ICCR scholarship and is studying BA (Hons) in tabla. A student from Sweden is studying LLB at the Law Faculty.
Foreign students are very important for universities from the point of view of institutional rankings. The National Institute Ranking Framework has a parameter called Region Diversity, which considers the percentage of students from other states/countries in an institute. In 2021, DU's score was 13.71 out of 30. In 2022, it increased to 14.7 and in 2023 it was 16.89.
Languages
2015-17: the preferred languages, Indian and foreign
_and_languages,_Indian_and_foreign,_preferred_by_undergraduates.jpg)
From: Manash Gohain, For DU aspirants, job prospects better described in foreign lingo, June 9, 2018: The Times of India
Almost all foreign languages find many takers in the language category at the undergraduate admissions in Delhi University. Despite a “huge” cutoff gap between them and the Indian languages, the key reason for this overwhelming popularity is an “immediate job with a good pay package”.
A comparative trend analysis of the average cutoffs for the language courses in the past three years showed that while the required average aggregate for foreign languages didn’t go below 90%, among India languages, only Hindi had a required minimum aggregate of 80% and above.
The six foreign languages offered by DU are Spanish, Italian, German, French, Arabic and Persian. Barring Persian
(65.5% cutoff), the average cutoff was 90% in 2017, while German and French had an all-time high average of 92.75% in 2015. Urdu, Persian, Bengali and Sanskrit are the four languages whose average cutoff never crossed 70%, and Sanskrit, in 2017, had its highest average cutoff at 61%, the lowest average cutoff among the languages that year.
Companies like Amazon offer a minimum of Rs 5.5 lakh as the annual package to foreign language graduates from DU. Last year, university officials said, it offered Rs 7-8 lakh. “Anyone with a foreign language degree is on high demand among the corporates and even Persian, though its cutoff remains low, has higher demand than an Indian language,” said an official of the Dean of Students Welfare (DSW).
Vijaya Venkataratnam, professor at Department of German and Romance Studies, said, “These courses are popular as their employability is much higher. Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu and Bengali have comparatively less opportunities. Also the number of people who know foreign language is much less and that is an advantage.”
Another advantage is availability of scholarships even at the bachelor’s level. “Scholarships at the masters’ and PhD levels are also a big draw. These students can either join corporates or opt for teaching, said Venkataratnam. The largest chunk of them is getting jobs at schools, MNC banks, big corporate houses as well in the travel industry, the professor added. “It is also easy to get jobs at BPO companies like Wipro. Corporates like Amazon and Google also employ our students.”
This year too, barring Punjabi and Hindi, the average cutoffs for the India languages are likely to hover around 68%, according to DU sources. Sanskrit has been the least attractive subject in DU. Kuldeep Kumar, Sanskrit professor at DU, blamed “poor interest in the language for many years” as the reason. He said students often took Sanskrit to get into DU at any cost.
Kumar, however, insisted that the interest in Sanskrit is increasing. “We saw how the cutoff at Hansraj went to around 74% last year. As competition improves, there will be an increase in cutoffs, too.”
The head of the Hindi department, Mohan, agreed. Although only 36 DU colleges offer the Hindi course, there has been a surge in interest over the past few years, he said.
Mohan explained that many preferred to apply for professional courses studying an Indian language. “But as job opportunities are improving in languages as well, even Urdu, Arabic and Persian are getting traction and their cutoffs are becoming competitive.”
National rank
Why DU slipped from no.6 (2016) to 20 (2019)
From: Mohammad Ibrar & Manash Pratim Gohain, Why DU failed to take on peers, April 10, 2019: The Times of India
Poor Faculty-Student Ratio Takes Toll; Rank Slips To 20th From 6th In 2016
In 2016, Delhi University was at sixth spot among the top Indian universities. In the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for 2019, it has dropped to 20. Though six of its affiliated colleges made it to the top 10 among colleges, the slide of DU, where admission hinges on sky-high qualifying marks, indicated its failure to keep up with its peers, including the city’s Jawaharlal Nehru and Jamia Millia Islamia. The slip is primarily due to diminishing research work and academic activities and the poor faculty-student ratio.
According to the NIRF analysis, DU did poorly in the parameters related to teaching, learning and resources (TLR) and research, professional practice and collaborative performance. On TLR, the subfactor of poor faculty-student ratio adversely affected DU’s ranking score.
Jamia, by comparison, improved its ranking from 83 to seven, while JNU continues to feature in the top 10 for the fourth consecutive year.
According to teachers and DU officials, the fall has been due to poor management, particularly in not improving the faculty-student ratio. The recently concluded Executive Council (EC) meeting found that several crore rupees was unutilised in the annual budget when this could have been used for developing/ improving the university’s research facilities or for paying the salaries of permanent teachers instead of appointing ad-hoc teachers.
“For five years DU has had no teacher appointment. There currently are over 4,000 ad-hoc teachers,” said an EC member requesting anonymity. According to DU Teachers Association president Rajib Ray, the institution desperately needed permanent teachers. “There are colleges where a full department is run with ad-hoc teachers,” he said. “We need to hire at least 2,000 teachers under the OBC expansion before the EWS recruitment begins.”
In research and collaboration too, DU’s score slid from last year’s 58.16 out of 100 to 53.79. Insiders blamed this on the deteriorating condition of the Central Library and inconsistent release of grants for research. DU’s expenditure on seminars and conferences fell from Rs 1.1 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 81.8 lakh in 2017-18.
Only last week, finance committee members had expressed concerns about the absence of funding in research and DU’s “jaundiced policies” on research. V K Agarwal, member of the finance panel and DU Court, told TOI, “The General Finance Rules sets a cap of Rs 15,000 on any form of expenditure. Even financial requirements to urgently repair equipment have to go through the time-consuming e-tendering process and this delays research work.”
Former Academic Council member Pankaj Garg pointed out that the Central Library had discontinued the INFLIBNET subscription and cut down on journals and publications. “INFLIBNET gave access to a wide range of journals essential for science research. Mathematica, a software essential for maths, physics and chemistry, was also not renewed,” he said, while noting that unlike in JNU, the faculty at DU was not allowed to access databases or journals from external sources.
Several attempts through phone and text messaging did not elicit any answers to TOI’s questionnaire from DU vicechancellor Yogesh Tyagi and registrar Tarun K Das.
Outstation students
2016-18
Shradha Chettri, Mohammad Ibrar, June 20, 2019: The Times of India
From: Shradha Chettri, Mohammad Ibrar, June 20, 2019: The Times of India
National flavour: Over half of students on North Campus from outside Delhi
NEW DELHI: Students from the city have been losing out on getting admission in the most popular colleges in North Campus and two colleges in South Campus of Delhi University, something which they have been complaining about for long. This has been proven by the enrolment data of the colleges in the city.
The conclusion was reached after looking at the 2018 and 2019 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) data of 24 colleges. DU has 63 colleges under it.
Out of the 24 colleges, the enrolment of outstation students in 10 is more than 60%. Colleges where close to 70% students are from outside the state include Miranda House, Hindu College, St Stephen’s, Hansraj, Kirori Mal and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). The numbers have been increasing gradually over the years owing to the popularity of the colleges.
Speaking to TOI, Simrit Kaur, principal of SRCC, said, “Our college is considered the best in commerce and that is the reason why several students apply here. Since DU is a national university, we get applications from meritorious students from across the country.”
In South Campus, most outstation students take admission in Shri Venkateswara College and Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College.
Acharya Narendra Dev College, which is neither in north or south campus, has the highest number of outstation students, and their number have been increasing every year. The same holds true for Gargi College which has seen a rise in the number of outstation students from 51% in 2016-2017 to 61% in 2017-18.
ARSD, which is well-known for its sciences courses, saw a massive jump of 18% in outstation students within one year (2017-18). Gyantosh Jha, the principal of the college, said, “Our college became popular after getting high rankings over the years. Many students told me that they applied after looking at the NIRF rankings. The college is in close proximity to Faridabad and Gurugram, so more students applying to DU prefer to come here.”
Barring these exceptions, many colleges, including Shiva ji and Maharaja Agrasen, which are funded by Delhi government, have more than 55% students from Delhi. In 2017, Delhi government had said it would explore the option of giving 85% reservation to Delhi students.
Even popular colleges like Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) and Jesus and Mary have a larger number of students from Delhi. Data from LSR showed that in 2016-17, 60% of students were from outside the state, but the next year their numbers dropped to 25%. However, the principal of the college, Suman Sharma, said there may be some discrepancy. “We are known to be diverse, so 35-40% of students who enroll here are from outside Delhi,” she added.
Reservations (affirmative action)
Disabled students, 2015-19
Shradha Chettri & Mohammad Ibrar, July 1, 2019: The Times of India
From: Shradha Chettri & Mohammad Ibrar, July 1, 2019: The Times of India
Even though the number of applicants to Delhi University has come down this year, there is a nearly 6% increase in people with disability (PwD) seeking admission to its colleges. For the first time, there is one application under the acid-attack survivor category too.
The number of PwD applicants had come down last year from 2017, despite the quota having been raised from 3% to 5% under the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016. Officer on special duty of DU’s equal opportunity cell (EOC), Bipin Tiwari, said: “The increase in number of PwD applications is much greater this year than what the data suggests.” He explained that unlike last year, there was no duplication of forms as DU had, for the first time, allowed a one-time editing mechanism. “I can confidently say that there is at least a 10% increase in the number of PwD applications this year,” Tiwari claimed.
DU has taken several steps to make its campuses accessible. “We have given a fee waiver to PwD students and charge just a nominal fee for certain items. Over the years, DU colleges have become disabled-friendly with improved infrastructure. This has made DU a viable option for such students,” Tiwari said.
Among individual colleges, Kirori Mal College and Miranda House have introduced QR codes for students with visual impairment to help them move around the campus with ease. At Zakir Husain, a Braille version of prospectus has been made available this year. Of the 1,366 applications received under the various physical disability categories, as many as 592 are from students with visual impairment. Students with physical disabilities residing in different hostels or halls of the university are exempt from paying all fees and charges, except the refundable caution and mess fees. People with physical disabilities have to pay 50% of the mess fee. Vasundhara Ratora, a visually challenged student who passed out of IP College for Women this year, said she had a good experience studying at DU. “The EOC library had all facilities, books and Braille readers. At many colleges, there are enabling units that help out students and provide solutions during admissions and also in the college,” she said.
Like every year, EOC has sent instructions to colleges, asking them to ensure that a desktop/laptop with assistive and screen reading software, connected to a printer, is made available to assist such students. Also, the admission process of students with disabilities must be conducted at the ground floor only.
SC/ ST/ OBC quota
Graphic
See graphic:
Delhi University: Quotas for SC and ST, OBC students
2017, 2018
From: July 23, 2018: The Times of India
2017 Saw 11 Cutoff Lists; Just Six This Year
The final cutoff for ST candidates for BA programme at ARSD College this year was 78% — much higher than last year’s 68%. The coveted Eco (H) course at LSR, too, saw a jump of 4.5% in the last cutoff for the SC category compared with the previous year, recording a high of 90%.
A comparative analysis of the final cutoffs for reserved categories — SC, ST and OBC — in 2017 and 2018 shows that anything less than 85% in the best-of-four will simply put an OBC candidate out of the race for a majority of courses and colleges of Delhi University. Similarly, anything less than 75% for an SC aspirant will make their DU aspirations quite distant.
Here’s an example of how tough it’s getting across categories. OBC candidates seeking admission to English (H) in Hansraj, Miranda House or LSR need to have a minimum of 91.5% in the best-of-four. Last year, an aggregate of 84 would have sufficed. In Gargi College, for example, the final cutoff in English (H) for OBCs stands at 89% this year against 80% in 2017.
ST candidates can breathe somewhat easier, with courses like physics, economics or mathematics still within “reach” at high 70s in some of the sought-after colleges.
Vijay Kumar Verma, member of the DU Adminission Committee, told TOI: “The marks obtained by CBSE students have been rising every year. It’s imperative that cutoffs for reserved categories, too, will be high.”
Last year, DU released 11 cutoff lists and conducted two “special drives” for reserved category students. This year, “so far, only six cutoff lists have been released. We are still mulling over a seventh list and have asked colleges to send us details”, Verma said. This was corroborated by a college principal, who wished to remain anonymous. “We followed the same pattern as last year. Only this year, cutoffs were high for most courses. We had six cutoff lists and had to reduce the qualifying marks by just a little. That’s why, you will see the cutoffs are still high.”
There are about 57,000 seats at undergraduate level across various colleges of DU. Around 28,000 of them are reserved for the three above-mentioned categories, apart from supernumerary quota for persons with disabilities, wards of war widows, sports and extracurricular activities.
Sports quota
2017/ Trials To Get 60% Weightage, Certificates 40%
Manash Gohain, DU fixes sports quota for seats , May 7, 2017: The Times of India
Specific Fitness Tests Only; Trials To Get 60% Weightage, Certificates 40%
Delhi University has finalised the undergraduate admission policy for supernumerary seats under sports category for the 2017-18 academic year.
The admission will be based on 60% weightage to sports trials and 40% to certificates. However, admission dates are yet to be finalised and the final decision rests with the university vice chancellor.
As reported by TOI earlier, there will be no “fitness test“ --the qualifying test for sports trials. Instead there will be a sport-specific fitness test within the centralised sports trials. All aspirants will now be eligible for the trials.
According to the admission policy sports trials will include game sport specific fitness, fundamental skills and overall playing ability .The DU Sports Council (DUSC) will identify and allocate colleges to conduct specific trials. To be eligible for admission, the candidates must score at least 30 out of 60 marks.
There will be two categories of admissions -direct and trial-based. Candidates who have represented India in the mentioned competition(s), recognised and funded by the ministry of youth affairs and sports will be eligible for direct admission.All candidates have to upload self-attested copy of the “highest sports certificate“. Under the trial-based admission, only those certificates that were issued between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2017 will be valid.
The university will also issue a list of the certificates events which will be considered valid. The online application process will have a menu from which one can choose the tournaments for which one has been certified. The DUSC has also created a mat rix for marks assigned to various certificates as well as achievements. For example, anyone who participated in world Asian School Games other international competitions and stood first will get full 40 marks, followed by 39 and 38 for the second and third positions respectively . And simple participation will earn 37 marks.
2016, 2017: Distribution of quota among different sports
From: Mohammad Ibrar, DU doesn’t share India’s cricket obsession, other sports getting more than equal share, June 6, 2018: The Times of India
In the last two years since Delhi University (DU) got sports trials under a centralised system, most candidates opted for football while applying under the quota. This year, the trials are scheduled to take place from June 22 to July 1 and students will have an option of choosing from various sports like basketball, volleyball, athletics etc.
Despite India being a cricket-obsessed country, these sports have become popular over the years because of good infrastructure that students get on campus, said a university official. “We provide good facilities and encourage them to do better in these sports on an international scale, ” said Anil Kalkal, the director of Delhi University Sports Council (DUSC).
According to data from the last two years, football got the most number of applications, with 1,391 applying in 2017 and 1,297 in 2016. Kalkal said this was because many schools have now started encouraging students to take up these sports “as they result in all-round development”. He added, “FIFA has been encouraging football at a local level because of which there has been a rise in the number of such tournaments. So, more players are showing interest and taking up the sport from the grassroots level.”
Similarly, more and more aspirants are now preferring sports like basketball and athletics, said the DUSC director. “Our medal tally has improved considerably, particularly in the past two years after the system was centralised,” he said, adding that the university has a good record in these sports.
He added that after the centralised admission portal was adopted, there has been a jump in the number of students applying to DU. “It is simpler now as students only have to upload their certificates on the portal and then attend trials,” he said.
Aditya Swamy, a secondyear Bcom (H) student of Shyam Lal College, agrees. He applied under the sports quota last year and gave trials for athletics. “It was much easier. I only had to upload my certificates and was called for trials at the university polo ground,” Swamy said. He added that it saves a lot of time as students don’t have to go to different colleges to give trials. “We can focus on our game better”, he said.
DU has a sports quota of up to 5% in all its courses. Aspirants can get through by applying under the ‘super’ category in which admissions take place directly or they can give trials. The trials will be conducted at different centres, mostly college campuses and sports grounds.
2016, 2018: Distribution of quota among different sports
From: Mohammad Ibrar, More get sporting chance of seat as DU facilities improve, July 8, 2018: The Times of India
More Applications, Selections This Year; Athletics Most Popular
Delhi University’s sports admission has seen the highest number of applications and selection of students in athletics this year, breaking the past three years’ record with 817 candidates getting admitted. This year, athletics has left football behind as the most popular sport.
“The jump in the number of applications and selection through the sports-based admissions is because of the improved sports facilities and opportunities,” claimed Anil Kalkal, director of the DU Sports Council. He added that there were 1,583 applications for football this year, as compared to 1,391 last year.
The director explained that the increase may have also been due to the changes in the admission rules. “Earlier we never considered certificates of participation in the district and state level. But now we allow for state-level sports competition participation; many candidates may have applied because of this change,” he said.
He added that since students can now apply directly through a centralised admission portal, making the process easier, which might have led to the increased interest. “It is now simpler as students have to only upload their certificates on the common portal and attend for trials on the date provided to them,” he said.
However, Kalkal said that even he is unsure why football has been taken over by athletics.
The sports trials for the 2018 admissions took place between June 22 and July 1 at multiple locations of the university and saw 12,054 applications.
The DUSC director also explained that the university has had a good record in several sports. “It’s not just cricket here, which is the most popular sport in the country. We see a high number of students applying and getting admitted in sports such as basketball and volleyball.
Our medal tally has also been high for some years now since we made the admission system centralised.”
DU has upto 5% quota in all courses in its colleges, which aspirants can apply for. Admissions can be done under super category. in which admission takes place directly, and on the basis of trials.
Admissions to colleges will be conducted from July 6 under the new rules where colleges will only select the students of the positions they want.
Sports
Off-campus colleges’ success, 2016-19
Mohammad Ibrar & Shradha Chettri, June 16, 2019: The Times of India
From: Mohammad Ibrar & Shradha Chettri, June 16, 2019: The Times of India
These past few years in Delhi University, the offcampus colleges have fast emerged as the leaders in sports. Students admitted under the sports quota often prefer these colleges for the support they get there, and it is these institutions that are producing the sportspeople representing the country and university in international events like Asian Games and University Summer Olympics.
Anil Kumar Kalkal, director of the Delhi University Sports Council, explained that centralised trials for admissions, started in 2016, allowed the students to keep their options open on where they wanted to study. “Earlier, they competed in the trials in North Campus colleges, but found it impossible to reach the off-campus institutions the same day for the trials there,” said Kalkal. “That is why fewer students were admitted under the sports quota in these colleges. The centralised system has allowed the students to attend just one trial and get admitted to any college of their choice.”
In any case, reasoned Pawan Dabas, physical education teacher at Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, studying outside of North Campus or South Campus isn’t an ignominy any more. He said that the off-campus colleges were no longer disadvantaged because the facilities in all DU colleges had improved after NIRF and NAAC rankings began taking into account both academic and infrastructural facilities. “We have better infrastructure and provide the students facilities of international standards,” claimed Anju Luthra, associate professor at Jesus and Mary College in Chanakyapuri. “We also try to make better resources available to them, including international coaching.” Such care and support are what draws sportspeople to these institutions.
Manoj Rathi, physical education teacher at Motilal Nehru evening and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, also observed that good sportsperson were choosing outer colleges “because they feel they will have less academic pressure in these institutions”. He said, “Many students choose these colleges so that they can focus on their sport.” An example is his student, Shourya Pratap Rathee, a third year student in DCAC. The taekwondo champion from Rohtak, Haryana, said “I was a science student in Class XII, but since I wanted to give more time to my sport, I opted for the BA Programme.” His decision is paying off and he will represent DU in the World University Games in Italy in July.
Nishant Sindhu, who won the gold at the 7th World University Shooting Championship in Kuala Lumpur in 2018, is one of the increasing number of students from off-campus colleges winning international laurels. The BSc 3rd year student told TOI that he joined Bhaskaracharya College because it was closer to his home in Gurgaon. “This saved me time in travel and I got more time for practise and study.” Dabas, his physical education teacher in college, ensures that he gets the support of the college authorities and the adulation of the students to encourage the young shooter.
Staffing issues: teachers, principals
4,500 teachers, 28 principals not appointed/ 2012-17
Manash Gohain, 28 of 66 DU colleges headless for years, Jan 23, 2017: The Times of India
Staff shortage looms large over Delhi University colleges. While the premier government institution has failed to appoint over 4,500 teachers in the past five years, the problem is going to become worse as over 42% colleges are currently headless and the numbers are going to rise as superannuation of more principals is on the anvil next month.
Teachers claim that the biggest casualty has been governance and decision making at the colleges. Many see the non-appointment of permanent principals by the previous administration a ploy to run the colleges at their whims and fancies.
Of the 66 colleges, 28, including Hans Raj and Hindu, have been running via officiating principals for over five years. Top colleges like Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and Kirori Mal (KMC) too don't have permanent principals.
The permanent principal of SRCC, P C Jain, superannuated in October 2014. The principal's post in Hans Raj fell vacant in 2009 with the superannuation of S R Arora, while Hindu has been under an officiating principal since 2008. The governing bodies of Hindu and SRCC had sent names for appointment of new principals in December 2016, but the DU administration is yet to approve them.
Former principals believe that there has been total callousness and indifference on the part of the university administration.
P C Jain said, “Vested interests have prompted nonappointment of permanent principals. Thousands of teachers have long been protesting for the appoint ments, yet no action has been taken. We want to create centres of excellence, yet the institutions have been running headless for the past 4-5 years. Is this the way to run educational institutions in the country?“ Slamming the university administration, colleges and other authorities, Jain said, “There is so much of callousness and complacency . It's shocking that people sitting at responsible positions are not responding to the requirements. If this can happen at DU, think about the fate of other institutions.“
“The biggest casualty in such a situation is governan ce and decision making,“ said Rudrashish Chakraborty , an English teacher with KMC.
Most the posts fell vacant during the tenure of the previous administration. “It is a ploy to not fill up the posts so that the DU administration can dictate terms into the functioning of the colleges, including appointments,“ said Abha D Habib, DU executive council member.
Assuring that the matter would be taken up on priority, DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi said, “This major issue has been taken up by the administration on priority. We will fill up all the positions soon.“
Teachers: 2017, appointment
As vacancies mount to around 4,500, Delhi University has finally started recruiting teachers. For the first time in more than seven years, the university has announced it would be filling up 378 posts of permanent teachers across departments.
Sources said the HRD ministry had asked DU to fill up most vacancies by the end of this year, following which the varsity has sought rosters from its colleges. While the current hirings were restricted to the departments, recruitments in colleges will follow soon, the sources added.
On Friday , the university invited online applications for 378 posts of assistant profes sors across 41departments and centres, which includes 187 general category posts, 100 OBC, 55 SC, 29 ST and seven posts for persons with disabilities.
This is the first major recruitment in DU since 2009. In April last year, the DU ad ministration formed a committee to facilitate the hiring process. The Academic and Executive councils passed the University Grants Commission's amendment on teachers' recruitment in December 2016, paving the way for the university to start hiring in a big way . In December 2016, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar had said that his ministry would push for a recruitment drive in all major institutions and that all vacant positions should be filled by 2018. DU teachers have been protesting against the hiring freeze for a long time. On its part, the ministry has stated that ad hoc appointments should not exceed 5% of faculty strength.
"There has been pressure on the university from the ministry to fill up the positions. However, even before that the university administration has started working towards that. But the university is yet to get the complete roster of all the colleges with the vacant positions. Therefore, it is starting with recruitments at the department level. Appointments in colleges will follow," said a DU official. According to MHRD sources, the university has been asked to fill most vacant positions by year-end. "If it gets difficult to fill up such a large number of positions in a year's time, the ministry has asked the university to fill at least 75% of the vacancies," said a senior HRD official.
On the recruitment of 378 assistant professors, DU said the last date for receipt of the online applications was February 16, 2017, or within two weeks of publication of the advertisement.
DU is also expecting aspirants from abroad to apply ."We would like to make as many recruitments as possible this year itself so that the ad hocism does not continue. I hope all ad hoc teachers, along with aspirants from other regions of the country , will apply in big numbers. DU would also like to see bring Indian scholars studying or working abroad to come and join us," said DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi.
States/ school boards that send the most students
2017-20
Mohammad Ibrar & Shradha Chettri, September 3, 2020: The Times of India
From: Mohammad Ibrar & Shradha Chettri, September 3, 2020: The Times of India
Covid-19 hasn’t dampened the spirit of even outstation candidates who want to secure a berth at Delhi University (DU). In fact, after witnessing a slump in the number of admission registration applications from different states last year, DU has witnessed a jump this year.
Besides receiving the highest number of applications in the history of the university — 3.5 lakh — the number of applicants from south Indian and northeastern states have also gone up.
Many officials attribute it to DU shifting entire process online and acceptance of a “new normal” by people in the wake of Covid-19. The student associations claimed their online counselling had also helped in increasing the count.
At 3,53,918 applications for undergraduate courses, DU has seen an overall jump of nearly 1 lakh. In 2019, the registration numbers from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh dipped compared to their 2018 counts. This year, Kerala has recorded 3,471 applications compared to 5,227 in 2019. Nandagopan PT, member of Sarga, the DU Malayali Association, said, “We started a campaign last year and conducted a district-wise counselling about DU admissions. We even cleared their doubts through online calls.”
The online process has also encouraged candidates, he added. “Many students are also keen as they think at least the first semester will be online. So they won’t have to travel to Delhi immediately,” said Nandagopan. However, he cautioned, if the Covid-19 situation doesn’t improve, “candidates may finally take admission closer home”.
In the Northeast, Assam led the way with 3,146 applications against 1,732 in 2019. In Arunachal Pradesh, the number has risen from 453 in 2019 to 955 this year.
Chinglen of Northeast Forum for International Solidarity said, “We see DU and other well-established education institutions as an opportunity to uplift lives of students here. There is no such opportunity in the Northeast and with Covid, local youths are in middle of nowhere.”
Even adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have recorded a significant jump. Uttar Pradesh, which had 49,009 applicants in 2019, has witnessed 66,657 applications, while Haryana’s jump is from 34,501 in 2019 to 50,701 in 2020.
Shobha Bagai, dean of admissions, said the increase was expected due to the early start of the process due to the pandemic. “Once the things started clearing up, it became apparent that for the next few months, the education system would remain online and the students also accepted it,” she said.
2018
From: No. of applicants from Delhi more than those from Haryana, UP put together, June 12, 2018: The Times of India
According to data released by Delhi University, most aspirants this year (around 90%) are from CBSE. In fact, the number of Delhi applicants is more than the combined number of aspirants from Haryana and UP — the next two states from where the maximum applications came.
This year, DU’s admission portal, which remained open from May 15 till the midnight of June 7, received 2,78,574 applications for its undergraduate courses, an increase of 57, 265 from last year.
As per latest data by DU, of these, 2,49,694 come from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the highest number to have come from a single board.
It was followed by the boards of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, which contributed 22,266 and 10,858 aspirants respectively, who registering on the portal.
Incidentally, Delhi accounted for the maximum number of applicants with 1,38,460 aspirants coming from the capital; a number higher than the combination of the number of students from UP (76,042) and Haryana (45,542).
After these boards, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private board, accounted for 9,681 of its students applying for admission in the university. The ICSE results had come much before most of the boards.
Along with the regular boards, DU also received a total of 3,856 applications of students registered with the National Institute of Open Schooling.
The admission process will begin from June 19 when the first cutoff list is published. The university announced that this year there will be five cutoff lists initially, followed by a centralised counselling session with students from SC, ST and OBC categories.
Teachers, Ad hoc: 2019
Shradha Chettri, Dec 6, 2019 Times of India
From: Shradha Chettri, Dec 6, 2019 Times of India
The hiring of ad hoc teachers has become an integral part of functioning in Delhi University, where appointment of regular faculty has stalled for more than a decade. Each college now has around 50 ad hoc teacher and in some they even outnumber the permanent ones. Absorption of these temporary teachers into the faculty has been a longstanding demand. The university has asked colleges to expedite the recruitment of permanent teachers, but these issues cannot be resolved so long as the process does not fill EWS and OBC reservations.
The economically weaker sections (EWS) reservation was implemented in February this year, while the second tranche of OBC reservations was approved by University Grants Commission in August after first being implemented in 2007. When these positions opened up, they were filled with ad hoc teachers.
“New reservations were to be implemented, but the EWS reservation was adjusted within the existing posts,” explained Naveen Gaur, member, DU Academic Council. “The second tranche of OBC reservations was notified later. In new recruitments, these have to be taken into account and for this, the roster system has to be reworked. It will take three to four months.” Many colleges have already submitted their rosters to the university, though they are yet to be approved. Colleges like Hindu and Ramjas have advertised recruitments, but after incorporating the EWS posts in the existing ones.
Talking about the confused state, a senior teacher said, “We are demanding absorption and recruitment but at the same time stating that the rosters should not be released. As long as this matter is not resolved by the central government, it is difficult to find a solution.”
The lack of clarity has added to the uncertainty around the ad hoc posts being converted to guest posts. Delhi University Principals Association has said that teachers appointed after July 2019 will be treated as guest faculty. “Being in the ad hoc system is any day better than being a guest faculty,” said a dismayed Maisnam Arnapal, an ad hoc teacher at Gargi for seven years now. “As ad hoc teachers we earn as much as the permanent faculty but without benefits. A guest faculty gets paid just Rs1,500 per lecture.”
Subjects/ courses preferred
See also the section ‘Cut-off marks’ on this page
2018
Mohammad Ibrar & Krittika Sharma, June 13, 2018: The Times of India
From: Mohammad Ibrar & Krittika Sharma, June 13, 2018: The Times of India
Each aspirant trying to enrol for the sociology (honours) course at Delhi University will have to compete with 209 others to grab one of the 356 seats on offer in nine colleges. At 201, journalism has almost the same ratio of aspirants vis-a-vis seats, while in geography, the count is 181 candidates for each of the 417 seats. The situation is marginally better for psychology with 176 applicants fighting for every single seat, an improvement from last year’s 220:1.
These figures indicate that the initial cutoffs will remain fairly high this year, with the competition remaining quite tight in honours courses like chemistry, BCom, mathematics and economics.
English, like in the past, has seen the highest number of applicants with 1,26,327 aspirants, a little less than last year’s 1,28,842. Similarly, BA Programme has got 1,05,818 applications against last year’s 1,40,619.
“Every year, we see the highest number of applications in English and BA Programme as everybody, irrespective of their Class XII stream, can apply in both these courses,” a senior DU official who is part of the admission committee told TOI.
Some other popular courses like psychology and economics usually see high cutoffs as these have a limited number of seats unlike English or BA Programme, the official added.
The competition in most science courses will also be tough, with 78 aspirants battling for each chemistry seat and 63 for every physics berth.
When the online registration process for the undergraduate admissions ended on June 7, the university received 2,78,574 forms. A candidate is allowed to apply in multiple courses through the centralised form. “Most apply for multiple seats given the uncertainty due to the competition and the subsequent drop in cutoffs,” a senior DU official said.
However, the actual number of registrations is likely to be less this year as DU allowed aspirants to submit new forms in case of any mistake in the first one. Although the university later also permitted cancellation of the ‘wrong’ form, it was not made mandatory.
"Quality status": NAAC, college-wise: 2016
SRCC, LSR lead UGC body's scores for DU, Dec 28, 2016: The Times of India
More than 30 Delhi University colleges have received the now-mandatory scores on their `quality status' from the National Accreditation and Assessment Council, and the results have mauled quite a few institutional reputations. St Stephen's, among the best known colleges in DU, is 12th in the list and Sri Venkateswara, another reputed institution, is ranked 14th. Shri Ram College of Comerce has received the hig merce has received the highest score of 3.65 among the 35 colleges evaluated.
It's followed closely by Lady Shri Ram College for Women with a 3.61 score. St Stephen's College was en a score of 3.21, below given a score of 3.21, below colleges such as Hindu, Kirori Mal, Khalsa, IP, Gargi, Jesus and Mary and Acharya Narendra Dev.
NAAC, an autonomous body of UGC, gives out accreditation status based on a college's performance in parameters such as covering the curriculum, teaching-learning, evaluation, faculty , research, infrastructure, learning resources, governance and student services.
In 2012, University Grants Commission, the higher education funding agency , began the process of making NAAC accreditation mandatory for colleges. DU accepted it in 2014 and this is the first year when so many colleges have received NAAC scores.
While the accreditation process got a thumbs up from some colleges, many have raised objections over the assessment criteria. Babli Saraf, principal of Indraprastha College for Women, said there shouldn't be a “one-size-fitsall“ criteria for colleges. “The criteria shouldn't be the same for a liberal arts college like ours, where we do not have the provisions for a laboratory and are not involved in research publications,“ she said.
A few colleges expressed satisfaction over the process.Said Dinesh Khattar, principal of Kirori Mal college, “We faced several academic and financial difficulties in the past one-and-a-half years, but managed to revamp the college structure. The NAAC, which visited us for three days in October, interacted with all stakeholders -teachers, non-teaching staff, students and even parents -to get a complete picture. The college got the fourthhighest score in the university .
Many said the evaluation system needed to be rationalised. Anuja Srivastava, princi pal of Hindu College, said NAAC should consider other aspects. “They should also review the college's reputation and extension aspects. Extracurricular activities should get extra weightage,“ she said.
Shashi Tyagi, principal of Gargi College, which was positioned 10 with 3.30 points, attributed the high CGPA score to the holistic approach that the college takes towards students.
“The good score is the result of consistent hard work over 10-15 years. We take care of all our students, while they are with us and much later too.And that's true for speciallyabled students or those from weaker sections,“ she said.
Other colleges such Zakir Husain (3.12), Deshbandhu (2.80), PGDAV (2.74), Motilal Nehru College (2.60) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College (2.63) also figured in the list.
Among affiliated colleges, the maximum weightage has been given to teaching and learning aspect. The evaluation was made out of 4 points.
See also
In addition to pages about individual colleges, please see:
Campus Law Centre, Delhi University
Delhi University
Delhi University campus: maps, graphs, facts
