Controversy, scams bent the learning curve

Updated on: Saturday, December 31, 2011

Delhi University saw a new high in June 2011 - Shri Ram College of Commerce declared a 100% cutoff for non-commerce students seeking admission to BCom (H). The cut-off for commerce students was 96%, and at the end of the first day, only 25 of 314 seats remained in the general category. The college never issued a second list for BCom (H).

DU also experimented with its admission procedure in 2011 by doing away with the registration process. There was no need to fill up centralized pre-admission forms or even the college forms and anybody meeting the cut-off and the eligibility criteria could claim admission. As a result, the class size increased two- or three-fold in colleges like Ramjas and Hindu.

A fake admissions scam shook the faith in DU's admission process. Ramjas College identified 29 students in the first and second year courses who had taken admission on forged certificates. The consequent probe led to the arrest of a second-year student and a former student of Ramjas, another student from SRCC and a cyber cafe owner.

DU was also dogged by a controversy over the elimination of AK Ramanujan's essay on Ramayana from a concurrent course in history. The issue split the teaching community and took political colour.

At JNU also, controversy raised its head after the All India Backward Students ' Forum decided to honour Mahisasura after a tussle with another section of students who opposed its 'blasphemous' posters on Durga Puja.

The year brought minority institution status for Jamia Milia Islamia University, a first for any central university. Jamia can now reserve up to 50% seats for Muslims. The university was also in the news for barring hundreds of students from exams for shortage of attendance and submitting fake medical certificates. A section of students approached the Delhi high court for relief, but the court ordered in favour of the university.

The year marked IIT Delhi's golden jubilee. The premier institute got a new head - Professor Raghunath Shevgaonkar, vice-chancellor of Pune University - in September.

At the school level, CCE seems to have fallen in place with no goof-ups reported in the summative assessment held in September. Schools also accommodated 25% students from the economically weaker section without any fee though the Delhi government has kept them waiting for reimbursements. The government finally framed rules for proper implementation of the Right to Education Act which are likely to be notified shortly.

At the close of the year, there was confusion over the right age to start schooling following a PIL in the high court. For now, HC has decided to retain the current age criterion allowing children aged 3+ to go to school.

Times of India

Controversy, scams bent the learning curve

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