The Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL), University of Mumbai is mulling over starting admissions to the first, second and third year degree courses again, after being inundated by requests from students and their parents. According to IDOL officials, while admissions were closed on September 16, they may restart admissions for a week considering the large number of requests. The officials added that they have been receiving almost 50-70 requests every day from students already enrolled in colleges as they were unable to cope with the credit based system due to which they have been expelled by the colleges. Dr D. Harichandan, director, IDOL said, that the recent cases of colleges debarring students for lack of 75 per cent attendance has put the students in a fix as they would lose a year. “Under the credit-based system, students have to compulsorily have 75 per cent attendance, failing which the college can debar them. As a last ditch effort to save a year, these students and their parents have been approaching the institute to restart admissions,” said Dr Harichandan. “Apart from saving a year, students also feel that the annual exam pattern being followed by IDOL will be less tedious and taxing as compared to the credit-based system which follows the semester pattern. IDOL is considering restarting admissions for a week in October, but the decision will be taken only after the IDOL advisory committee and the University give the go ahead,” said Dr Harichandan. This year IDOL has seen a ten per cent increase in the number of applications for admissions. Bharat Badot, a student from Kandivali said that though he was enrolled in a college in the first year, he decided to change to IDOL as the semester-based credit-based system was not only tedious, but also time consuming. Many other students concurred with Mr Badot, as a result of which the number of admissions in the commerce stream in IDOL has crossed the 50,000 figure.
