Protests broke out among students on Thursday following Delhi University’s plan to make the entire admission process for undergraduate courses online.
Protests broke out among students on Thursday following Delhi University’s plan to make the entire admission process for undergraduate courses online. They said that the process would restrict those students from applying who do not have access to Internet.
To formulate an admission policy for the upcoming academic session, which would be notified by next month, a 24-member committee compromising of deans of faculties of science, commerce and arts, nine college principals and members of the executive and academic councils has been constituted by the university.
The committee, following its two meetings, is believed to have reached a consensus on making the entire admission process online unlike last year when both the online and offline application systems were in place. However, the move has not gone down well with some students.
A delegation of students, including members of the Students Federation of India (SFI), met the Dean of Students’ Welfare in this regard after staging of a protest at the varsity’s Faculty of Arts on Thursday.
A student protester said, “The number of applicants for DU’s undergraduate seats keeps on increasing every year and limiting the admission process to just online form will restrict access to a significant section of students coming from resettlement colonies, JJ clusters and working class backgrounds who have limited access to Internet. The interaction an applicant normally has with students organisation representatives during the admission process forms an integral part of their initiation to the university life and is crucial in solving many of the queries related to the courses and colleges.”
The university authorities, however, said the plan is being considered following a communication from University Grants Commission (UGC) to all Central universities asking them to “put in place an online admission system for all the programs offered as it will ensure greater efficiency and promote transparency.” A senior university official said, “The process is being considered because of the directives from UGC. However, we are taking note of students’ concerns and the final policy will be decided accordingly.”
