DU to hold entrance test from '22, teachers say move rushed

New Delhi: The Delhi University's executive council on Friday approved holding of entrance examinations for admissions from next year, officials said even as several varsity teachers said the move was being rushed and that this would deprive students from access to good education.

The executive council (EC) is the highest decision-making body of the university and despite dissent by some members of the council, it approved the proposal to hold entrance tests. The academic council meeting was held on December 10 and it had already approved the proposal - also despite 17 of 26 members dissenting.

A nine-member panel constituted by DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh had recommended that the varsity should hold entrance examinations through a Common Entrance Test to ensure substantial objectivity in the process of admission, amid controversy over the high number of cent per cent scorers from the Kerala Board getting admission to the varsity.

The committee formed under the chairmanship of Dean (examinations) D S Rawat was supposed to examine the reasons for over and under admissions to undergraduate courses, study board-wise distribution of admissions in all undergraduate courses, suggest alternative strategies for optimal admissions in undergraduate courses, and examine OBC admissions with reference to the non-creamy layer' status.

"The Committee is of the considered view that admissions may be carried out through a Common Entrance Test (CET)," said the report. "It may be conducted through an appropriate mode by the university through a well devised internal arrangement or through any external agency depending upon prevailing operational feasibility and administrative convenience at that time followed by declaration of list of eligible candidates for admissions under various course of study," said the committee in its report.

Meanwhile, several teachers have noted that the university was rushing into the decision without taking into consideration the fact that students' education suffered due to the Covid pandemic.

Delhi University Teachers' Association president AK Bhagi said, "The committee that was formed to look at the admission process did not have teachers who teach at the undergraduate level. The university should not have rushed into the move and consulted the stakeholders, including the students' union. This is likely to create problems and can prove to be disadvantageous for those from economically weaker sections who cannot afford coaching and even for women from smaller villages." The university has to be careful while working out modalities of holding entrance tests and has to do it with precision, he added.

Pankaj Garg, chairman, Indian National Teachers' Congress (INTEC), and a member of a panel to evaluate entrance tests in 2017, said the move was rushed and added that like his committee had suggested, it should have been started on a pilot basis first.