HC order may delay admissions, frets DU

WHY WAS THE DELHI UNIVERSITY FORCED TO DELAY ITS ADMISSION BECAUSE OF THE CBSE’S “TARDINESS”, ASKED SOME DU OFFICIALS

A day after the Delhi High Court said that the ongoing Delhi University admissions could be impacted by the outcomes of a plea in the court and the results of the re-evaluation of CBSE Class 12 answer sheets, DU officials are concerned about how their “sacrosanct” number of seats and calendar will be affected by the impending order.

A senior DU official, who didn’t wish to be named as the matter is sub judice, said that students who have already taken admission at the university and its 60-odd constituent colleges need not worry. “The issue is about students who are still seeking admission according to the latest order,” said the official.

As for students who may have their grades increased, DU officials said that they will follow the current admission guidelines, unless ordered otherwise by the court. “According to our current guidelines, if a student clears a particular cutoff, but fails to take admission under that list, he/she may do so on the last day of admission under the subsequent cutoffs, given that there are seats available,” said a DU official.

However, as the High Court order makes references to previous directives, where it was ordered that the university must accept students irrespective of availability of seats and admission schedules, have left many officials worried.

“The sanctity of the DU calendar is supreme. Even the number of seats set by the academic council and the executive council is sacrosanct. This would go for a toss, and our admission procedures will get delayed,” said the DU official, questioning why the university was forced to delay its admission procedure because of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s “tardiness”, when CBSE is only one of the 42 boards that represent DU’s student community.

Educators and school officials have welcomed the High Court order as “natural justice” for students. “Children should not be made to suffer for something that is obviously not their fault. Their right to admission should not be denied because of ‘policy’,” said the principal of a prominent private school in Delhi.

The matter is now listed for further hearing on July 26.