Delhi University's first cutoffs soar to 100% in three colleges

As expected, cutoffs for admission into Delhi University's undergraduate courses went sky high as colleges released the first list late on Monday. For BSc computer science, the bar was as high as 100% in at least three colleges — Acharya Narendra Dev (95-100), Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm (98-100) and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (97-100). 

Though 'popular' colleges didn't raised the bar too high — there wasn't much scope for it either — cutoffs in other colleges increased by as much as 20 percentage points for some courses as compared to 2012-13, when the same programmes were last on offer. 

The increase is attributed to uncertainty over the number of applicants due the sudden rollback of the four-year-undergraduate programme.

Barring courses such as Sanskrit, Hindi or Anthropology, cutoffs for a majority of popular courses were above 93% aggregate in best of four. And there is a 100 percent aggregate this year as well, recorded at Acharya Narendra Dev College for BSc computer science. 

The cutoffs released by the colleges are also riddled with additional criteria and aspirants need to carefully analyse them, as simply making the cutoff will not make them eligible for admission. 

Off-campus colleges played it safe to the extent that not many may see much of action during the first cutoff admissions. For example, Zakir Husain Delhi College increased its cutoff from 70 in 2012 to 90 this year for English honours while Ram Lal Anand (evening) upped the bar for its BA programme by 20 percentage points at 85%. 

 

"We are aware that these are pretty high cutoffs. But colleges have to be careful because there has been no registration for programme courses and there is reduction in the seats for honours courses (as compared to FYUP). Once students come for registration and we have more data, we can work on more realistic cutoffs. We have the liberty as there will be seven more lists to fall back on," said principal of a south campus college. 

Colleges like Gargi, Deshbandhu, Acharya Narendra Dev, SGND Khalsa and host of others increased their cutoffs by over 10 percentage points. In fact, of the 57 colleges (excluding St Stephen's, Jesus and Mary, Institute of Home Economics and Lady Irwin College) 45 recorded a jump of 10 percentage points in cutoffs as compared to 2012. 

Some of the highest cutoffs are recorded at Acharya Narendra Dev, Hindu, Hans Raj, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Lady Shri Ram College, Indraprastha College and Ramjas. Hindu placed its BCom (honours) cutoff even higher than SRCC by offering admissions at a range of 97.25 to 99.75 (best of four aggregate). SRCC is offering BCom (honours) at a range of 97.5 to 99.25. At Hans Raj, the highest cutoff is for BSc computer science at 98.33- 99.33 (best of four). Economics cutoff is equally high, with Hindu keeping the bar at 97.5-99.

Read more at  : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Delhi-Universitys-first-cutoffs-soar-to-100-in-three-colleges/articleshow/37547611.cms

10 things you must know about Delhi University’s four-year undergraduate programme

For the past one year, Delhi University's four-year undergraduate programme has been in the news for various reasons. City-wide protests by students and teacher organizations, the fact that DU in fact admitted students into the programme last year despite the uproar, and finally the stepping in of University Grants Commission (UGC) to scrap FYUP are the key highpoints underlining this controversial programme.

On Tuesday, Delhi University colleges, slowly but surely started switching back from the controversial four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) to the three-year course. On Tuesday — a day that was dominated by an unseemly drama over whether or not vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh had resigned — 57 of the university's 64 colleges quietly communicated to UGC that they were moving back to the three-year course.
Here are 10 facts about the controversy surrounding DU's FYUP programme:

1) The Delhi high court on Wednesday fixed the petition on the FYUP-UGC issue for hearing on July 1.

2) ​57 of the university's 64 colleges have 'quietly' communicated to UGC that they were moving back to the three-year course. These colleges include Hindu College, Lady Shri Ram, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Miranda House, Venkateswara and Kirori Mal. UGC followed up by asking DU authorities to immediately write to these colleges to begin admission under the three-year programme.

3) Meanwhile, UGC's missive to DU to ask colleges to begin admission under the three-year course could result in another war of nerves. Late in the evening, VC Dinesh Singh, pro-VC Sudesh Pachauri, registrar Alka Sharma and other officials reportedly met to plan their next move. University authorities, sources said, refused to take UGC's latest letter.

4) Responding to the anxiety of BTech students, whose course will be scrapped under the three-year graduation system, UGC said, "Students who feel they will be denied a BTech degree if the three-year course is introduced should not worry. Their interest will be fully safeguarded. They are being egged on by the DU authorities to agitate."

5) Delhi University administration's refusal to officially clarify anything relating to the current admission mess is leaving many DU hopefuls — especially those from other cities-in the lurch. DU admissions were to begin on June 24.
6) The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a petition challenging the University Grants Commission's direction to Delhi University to scrap the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP). Instead, a bench comprising Justices Vikramjit Sen and S K Singh suggested to the petitioner, Aditya Narayan Mishra, who is an assistant professor at Aurobindo College, to approach Delhi high court first.

7) Delhi University VC Dinesh Singh's fate hangs in the balance as it is not clear whether he has resigned or not. DU spokesman Malay Neerav texted a one-line message which said, "VC has resigned". This was followed by 'news' of the resignations of DU proVC Sudesh Pachauri and dean Umesh Rai. Since the VC's resignation had to come to the HRD ministry, officials there got into a huddle to finalize their next move. But as minutes and hours went by, Singh's resignation did not reach the ministry. "DU VC is playing a mind-game and successfully managed to spend another day without bothering about the fate of students," said a ministry official.

8) Protests continue to take place in DU. Those in favour of FYUP want to keep the pressure on; so they — mainly teachers' group like Academics for Action and Development (Aditya Mishra) — sat on a hunger strike. As news of the VC's resignation — which later turned out to be dubious — spread, there were celebrations and exchange of congratulatory messages.


Protest against FYUP

9) Many are shocked at UGC's U-turn on FYUP that came into force in the last academic session. UGC along with a set of HRD officials, led by present education secretary Ashok Thakur, was at the forefront of celebrating FYUP last year. Not long ago, UGC chairperson Ved Prakash at a function in DU campus showered praise on VC Dinesh Singh and FYUP.

10) There seems to be no agreement between the central and state leaderships of Congress on the issue of rollback of FYUP. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad described UGC's directive as a decision taken in "haste" while another Congress leader, Manish Tewari, accused the NDA-led Central government of "trampling (on) and trifling (with)" the autonomy of a premium academic institution like Delhi University.

DU admission: St.Stephen's College announces cut-offs for 2014-15

St. Stephen's College has announced its cut-off list for the 2014-15 session. The highest cut-off percentages are for economics and English — both have the same set for general category — 97.25% for science students, 98 for commerce students and 97 for humanities. Interestingly, the economics cut-off for commerce students has remained the same as last year while it has increased for both science and humanities (by 0.5 percentage points.)

English cut-offs have gone up too, of course, but most significantly for humanities students — by 1.25 percentage points. Cut-offs have increase for the humanities stream in all courses except philosophy.

In compliance with Delhi University requirements, there are no additional eligibility criteria this year. Also, the declaration of cut-offs is only the beginning of the admission process at the college. St.Stephen's will now interview every candidate that's made the cut and then admit.

original source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/DU-admission-St-Stephens-College-announces-cut-offs-for-2014-15/articleshow/36716576.cms

Delhi University admissions 2014 end with 2.7 lakh applications

Delhi University UG admissions 2014 ended on June 16, 2014 with over 2.7 lakh applications received, breaking previous year records. Despite controversy on the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), the number of students applying for admission has not been affected. The application process began from June 2, 2014 and was available both online at the official website and at the 18 designated centers.

According to official data, 274,381 forms were received by the university till 6 pm on Monday, surpassing the previous record of 254,339 forms, reports IANS. While the offline form submission ended at 6 pm, the online form submission continued till 12 midnight. Last year, the total number of forms submitted online was 1,30,803.

In the last academic year, with the introduction of the Four Year Undergraduate Programme, Delhi University received 254,339 applications.

Now that applications are complete, candidates will be faced with the Delhi University admission cut off lists.

Important dates
1. Colleges to declare first admission list by: June 24, 2014
2. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the first admission list: June 26, 2014
3. Colleges to declare second admission list by: June 27, 2014
4. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the second admission list: June 30, 2014
5. Colleges to declare third admission list by: July 1, 2014
6. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the third admission list: July 3, 2014
7. Colleges to declare fourth admission list by: July 4, 2014
8. Last date for Admission and payment of fees under the fourth admission list: July 7, 2014
9. Colleges to declare fifth admission list by: July 8, 2014
10. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the fifth admission list: July 10, 2014
11. Colleges to declare sixth admission list by: July 11, 2014
12. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the sixth admission list: July 12, 2014
13. Colleges to declare seventh admission list by: July 14, 2014
14. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the seventh admission list: July 15, 2014
15. Colleges to declare eighth admission list by: July 16, 2014  
16. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the eighth admission list: July 17, 2014
17. Colleges to declare ninth admission list by: July 18, 2014
18. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the ninth admission list: July 19, 2014
19. Colleges to declare tenth admission list by: July 21, 2014
20. Last date for admission and payment of fees under the tenth admission list: July 22, 2014

original source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/du-admissions-end-with-2.7-lakh-applications/1/367216.html

Delhi University to extend sports quota reservation in PG courses

Delhi University (DU ) has now introduced a five per cent quota in post-graduate courses under sports category to encourage more and more students to take up sports and yet continue with higher academic education, reported Mail Today.

The University only permitted admission under sports quota for Bachelor's degrees till last year but now the facility has been extended for postgraduate courses.

This way the students' achievements till undergraduate level are not wasted. Head of Sports Council S. Dubey said that the decision to reserve five per cent seats in every course for acclaimed and certified performers in sports was taken so that more students get encouraged to pursue sports.

Not only this, some students will also get direct admission under the sports quota. Officials said that students who have won accolades at national- and international-level sports competition will not be required to give trials for the admission under the quota.

DU last year eased admissions under sports quota especially for chess players, shooters and archers, who will now have to undertake only one of the three fitness tests to qualify for trials.

DU will start the process for admission to its under-graduate courses for academic year 2014-15 on June 2. The university has made many alterations in its admission process for academic year 2014-15.

 Original source : India Today 

Delhi University colleges allowed to relax cutoffs for girls

In line with its inclusive policy announced ahead of undergraduate admissions, Delhi University has decided that girl students will continue to avail relaxation in cutoffs.

Every year, along with cutoffs, colleges would set some additional eligibility criteria which include relaxation in cutoff to girl aspirants in select colleges and courses. Last year, 18 colleges offered relaxation in cutoffs of 1-5% across courses.

For example, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharam, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Dyal Singh (morning and evening), Ram Lal Anand (evening) and Shaheed Bhagat Singh (evening) offered 3% relaxation in cutoff to girls in all honours courses of arts and commerce. An equal number of colleges offered relaxation in science courses.

This year, the university has restricted colleges from issuing additional eligibility criteria and instead made them uniform. But colleges will be allowed to continue with this particular additional eligibility criterion in order to continue with its policy of inclusiveness and women's empowerment.

However, it will let colleges decide if they want to provide any relaxation to girl students in certain courses. The colleges must write to the dean of students' welfare for approval.


"As a matter of policy the university will allow the colleges to give relaxation to girl students so that a good number of girls join the university. Colleges can write to the university seeking approval of this criterion. There is no point of issuing a uniform guideline on this as it will not serve any purpose. For example, girls from Walled City who want to pursue higher studies in a neighbourhood college will not be benefited if the university decides on a uniform 2% relaxation across colleges. Instead it is better to allow Zakir Husain College to offer 3% relaxation or whatever it deems fit so that girls can get admission. There is no point in making all college relax cutoff for girls as there will be colleges which get more girl students," said joint dean, dean of students' welfare and media coordinator, DU, Malay Neerav.

Speaking about the process, dean, DSW, J M Khurana said, "The colleges need to write to the university and the respective cutoff relaxation percentages for girls will subsequently approved. These will then be issued along with the cutoffs."

The university is also planning to restrict colleges from issuing an individual set of criteria on admitting gap year students. Earlier, students used to face a lot of hardship due to nonexistent uniform criteria. However, according to university officials, a uniform guideline will be issued which will help students who took a gap year apply for admission.

original source : Times of India 

Delhi University students release Charter of Demands for safety of Women

Delhi University (DU) students led by Miranda House and joined by youth of Delhi have released a charter of demands for the policy makers of India demanding safety, security for women, framing rights for the girl child and the right to education. The charter has been created on the beliefs that for effective results policies have to be changed. Other participating colleges include Hindu College, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi School of Social Work and Delhi School of Economics.

The charter called the "Platform for Action: Of, for and by young people" was the result of three month field work, interacting with victims and survivors of violence, sensitising police personnel and creating awareness on women's laws and rights among the urban slums IANS reported.

With demands addressed to various ministries, the students stressed that there were enough of protests, and now the youth and government needs to work hand in hand to bring change and create a secured environment.

"In our country, rape has become the threshold to sexual assault. But in reality, groping, touching and staring have equal effect on the psyche. So now is the time to walk towards zero tolerance on sexual harassment. Legal awareness alone will not help empower women," said Bedadyuti Jha, student and member of the Women Development Cell of Miranda House.

The youth felt women empowerment would occur only after sensitising teachers, providing freedom to women in matters of marriage, promoting English education in government schools and making women helpline services functional.

Activists from the Centre for Advocacy and Research and Plan India, who were crucial to the release of the demand charter, stressed that protection of women needs to become a "political agenda".

"Several policies, programmes have failed to provide security arrangements. Protection has to become a political agenda now as youth are anxious and they want to leave an imprint," said Centre for Advocacy and Research executive director Akhila Sivadas.