DU admission: Cent per cent marks becoming a benchmark

After the tug of war between UGC and Delhi University on the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), now new reason which Delhi University has given to its students to be sad is the cut-offs. Sadly, the university has been consistent in managing the sky high cut offs which has as always left a sour taste not only in the mouth of average scorers but high scorers too.

These skyrocketing cuts-offs are giving nightmares to the university aspirants and are acting as intimidating barriers for entry of average students to India's premiere institute.

The one getting 97 percent may not suffer, but it is the average student who will have to bear the brunt because of these high cut-offs. Currently, near 3 lakh students are vying for 54,000 seats of the Delhi University and even those who work hard and score above 90 percent don't get into the colleges of their choice.

The question which is being raised as always is, where will the average student go if things go the same way? And why only marks are considered as a parameter to get into these Universities? When will this be understood that there is much more than just high percentages?

Is a student who scored 95 or 96 percent incapable of studying a particular subject in comparison to a student who scored 99 or say 100 percent?

Now students ready to study any course in DU

Several colleges closed admissions for most undergraduate courses under the general category in the third cut-off list announced on Monday. As the seats of DU are fast filling up, students who have not been able to make it to their desired courses have decided to change their preference and thus, are ready to study any course in the University.

Aspirants expected the threshold to drop by the third cut off list, but these soaring cut-offs have left the aspirants high and dry.
Problem with this criterion for selection is that it lays emphasis on marks and not on the education system which is shoddily structured around rote learning.

Colleges peg high cut offs in the first few lists but the fallout is that by end of the admission process many seats remain unfilled.

Because of these high cut offs, competition rises and thus, parents also expect that their kids to score cent percent in the board exams.

Why admission is denied to a student with 95% and allowed to the one who scored 98%. Does this difference of 2-3% make any difference to their intellect? The present education system is based on the cram and score method, where textbooks are the only gods and practical knowledge is something which is least catered to.

Cut-off ghatao, seat badhao

With the rising cut-offs and rising competition , the number of seats should also be increased as the number of applicants is many a times larger than the number of seats available in the varsity.

More and more colleges should be given status of deemed universities so that the number of seats are increased. This will help those students who vie to get into the one and only Delhi University to have more options.

The charade of world-class education

Under the façade of world class education, all these steps are taken but are these steps really helping students in their respective careers? How many students really end up with good jobs after getting into these courses? And not to forget the curriculum which has gone obsolete. Is it revised from time to time keeping in mind the needs of industry and the services sector? The focus should not be fixed to cut offs rather the education which is imparted to these students in these "World class institutions" should create more and more jobs for the youth brigade.

Like other world class institutions, emphasis should be laid on more practical knowledge rather than being limited to the textbooks acquaintance.

High scores don't necessarily mean that students have a better sense of understanding and learning. Even those who score high can have better knowledge and not to forget our great intellectuals like Einstein, APJ Abdul Kalam etc who were never good scorers but had immense knowledge about their respective subjects.

So, the cent percent criterion which is becoming a benchmark now should not prevent those from getting into the universities who have better talent and knowledge, and marks should not be the only parameter to judge one's acquaintance in a particular subject.