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With the CUET UG 2024 result nowhere in sight, Delhi University’s elected academic council members, Mithuraaj Dhusiya and Monami Basu, have submitted a note to the Vice Chancellor demanding a review of policies based on the faculty members’ experiences with the CUET-based admission process for undergraduate courses. In a note to V-C Yogesh Singh, the two members have requested the central university to opt out of the entrance test from the next academic year as they believe the “dependence on CUET will result in uncertainty in admission schedules and hence, academic calendars”. “The University of Delhi was known not only for its flagship courses but also for the timely compliance of its academic calendar: a feature that attracted students from the entire country to pursue their undergraduate studies in the University. By introducing half-baked and poorly formulated policies like NEP and CUET, the University of Delhi has seriously undermined its autonomy on all policy decisions but has also become a victim of policy paralysis at the level of the Government and the Ministry of Education,” the faculty members voiced in the note to the V-C. This is the third year in succession that the UG admission process has been delayed in the DU owing to the CUET UG. In the debut year of CUET, i.e. 2022-23, the classes for DU’s semester 1 began in November. The following year (2023-24), even though the CUET UG was conducted comparatively early, the results were delayed to accommodate candidates from Manipur since the state was witnessing an ethnic conflict. Due to this, DU’s academic year began on August 16, which was three weeks after the scheduled time owing to delay in the declaration of results. This year, too, the V-C Yogesh Singh has confirmed to that the academic year is expected to start on August 16 for CUET-based UG courses (while non CUET UG-based courses will begin on August 1). The faculty members have alleged that the Delhi University’s admission system lacks transparency, and available seats and regular continuous updates on their occupancy status should be visible on the DU website. “In a semester system, loss of over 2 months of teaching to admission is extremely unfair to students and teachers. This year, while Semester-I classes started on 16 August, admissions continued till October. Last academic year, the Academic Session for Semester-1 had commenced on 2nd November 2022, the admissions continued till 31st December 2022. The policy, which worked for Annual System cannot be implemented for Semester System,” the members added in their note. The delay in CUET results is driving prospective students away from Delhi University and towards private universities, Mithuraaj Dhusiya told Dhusiya, who teaches English Literature at Hansraj College, also added that the complaints that were raised for the previous cut-off-based admission process for the Delhi University, are also being observed in the CUET-based admission process. “Earlier, it was said that students were scoring 100 in all subjects and the cut-off was sky-rocketing. But the same is being observed in the CUET where students are scoring 99 or 100 percentile and getting admission here is still tough,” he said. In CUET 2022, almost 20,000 candidates scored 100 percentile across 30 subjects, following which in 2023 over 22,000 candidates scored 100 percentile marks with the maximum top scorers in English, followed by Biology and Economics subjects. Another problem raised was that the cut-off system was reducing the regional diversity in the classrooms. However, faculty members believe that the CUET-based admission has ended that. “Earlier, we had students from different parts of the country, but now we have observed that students from southern states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc have reduced, and the diversity in the classroom has seen a decline,” Dhusiya alleged. The members have also raised concerns about increasing the coaching culture for CUET exams. While the UGC Chairman, M Jagadesh Kumar, and the NTA has repeatedly stressed that students need not attend coaching classes to crack CUET, the number of coaching centres offering CUET classes has seen an increase. This too, is adding to reduced regional diversity in the classrooms, the faculty alleges. “Coaching for CUET has flourished faster than one could anticipate. Such a filter has resulted in an additional expenditure of parents and students towards coaching and therefore, marginalises those coming from disadvantageous backgrounds,” they explained. “A total disregard of continuous performance of students in their most important year of study is disastrous. By granting admission based on CUET scores alone is a total disregard for continuous work of a student and of lab-work associated with disciplines.” While the faculty members have voiced their concerns and are hoping for a positive outcome, the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor has given a stern disapproval to any such plans. “Our take is very simple, we will go with the Government of India and the University Grants Commission. We will be using CUET,” he told and added that the varsity is “taking all necessary steps to make admissions (on time)” and will begin the academic session of all CUET-related courses on August 16 and rest from August 1. As of now, the university has not taken concrete decisions on how the delay will be compensated for the incoming batch, he added. “Times are very different right now and we are waiting for the declaration of the results. As soon as the results are declared, we will start the admission process,” Singh added. As per the original schedule, the results for CUET UG 2024 were scheduled to be declared on June 30, but have been delayed probably due to NTA’s part in the ongoing NEET UG paper leak controversy. CUET UG is the single-window test for admissions to a majority of undergraduate programs at 46 Central universities, including Delhi University (DU), Allahabad University, and Banaras Hindu University (BHU). This year, the entrance test was held in hybrid format — online as well as pen-and-paper mode — over multiple shifts between May 15 and May 31. Deeksha Teri covers education and has worked with the The Hindu (print division), WION and Stonebow Media. She is an alumnus of The University of Lincoln and The University of Delhi. ... Read More None
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