DU colleges revert to Class 12 marks for admissions amid vacant seats

Three more Delhi University colleges have opened undergraduate admissions based on Class 12 marks to fill vacant seats after the CUET-based process. The move has sparked criticism from faculty, who question the university's admission policy.

Three more colleges of Delhi University, Shyam Lal College, Rajdhani College and Zakir Husain Delhi College (Evening) have opened undergraduate admissions based on Class 12 board examination marks to fill vacant seats.

The move comes after colleges struggled to fill all their seats through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-based admission process. Earlier this month, Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Bhagini Nivedita College had also been allowed to admit students on the basis of Class 12 marks.

The development is significant as DU's standard undergraduate admission process is based on CUET scores, followed by allocation through the university's Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS).

College-Specific Admission Details

Shyam Lal College

At Shyam Lal College, applications have been invited for three programmes: BSc Physical Science with Chemistry, BSc Physical Science with Electronics and BA (Hons) Hindi. The application window opened on August 19 and will close on August 21. The merit list will be announced on August 23, while physical document verification and completion of admission formalities will take place on August 24 and 25. Students selected for admission have been asked to pay the fee on the day of physical verification.

Rajdhani College

Rajdhani College has opened merit-based admissions for several undergraduate programmes, including BA (Hons) Sanskrit, BSc (Hons) Physics, BSc Physical Science with Chemistry, BSc Applied Physical Science with Industrial Chemistry and BA Programme with Sanskrit and History. Applications will remain open until 5 pm on August 24, with the merit list scheduled to be released on August 25. Document verification and admission confirmation will take place on August 27 and 28, while the last date for fee payment is August 29.

Zakir Husain Delhi College (Evening)

Zakir Husain Delhi College (Evening) has also invited applications for undergraduate programmes, including BA (Hons) Persian, BA (Hons) Sanskrit and BA (Hons) Urdu. It has also opened admissions for BA Programme combinations involving Arabic, Bengali, Persian, Sanskrit or Urdu with History or Political Science. Applications opened on August 19 and will remain open until August 23.

Criticism Over Admission Policy Shift

The colleges' decision to admit students through Class 12 marks has also raised questions among teachers over the university's admission policy.

Rudrashish Chakraborty, associate professor of English at DU, said the university's return to board-mark-based admissions after two rounds of CUET admissions showed "policy paralysis" in handling undergraduate admissions.

"This is the fifth successive year of CUET admission in DU; and without exception, this year has witnessed the same admission chaos," Chakraborty said.

He questioned how individual colleges could change the centrally determined admission policy midway through the process.

"There is a pertinent question which needs to be asked on this matter: do the DU colleges have the autonomy under the University Statutes and Ordinances to take independent policy decisions when it comes to undergraduate admission?" he said.

Chakraborty also criticised the university's broader academic and administrative functioning, alleging that the admission process had become chaotic and that the university was moving towards greater autonomy for individual colleges.

The latest move effectively allows colleges with vacant seats to return, at least for select programmes, to an admission mechanism that was used before the introduction of CUET-based admissions. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)