DU to streamline admissions
NEW DELHI : Delhi University vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh has formed a committee of 16 college principals to work out modalities for admissions.

The committee that had its third sitting on December 30, decided on mandatory online registration of all candidates seeking admission to any affiliated college of the university. While the process of admission under the sports and extra-curricular activity quota is yet to be decided.

The committee is clear on the fact that unlike the previous years where the SC/ST students did not had the choice of choosing their own course and college, this time they will get the choice.

The committee that comprises principals of 16 colleges, including Sri Ram College of Commerce, Miranda House, Kamla Nehru College, Shivaji College and Deshbandhu College, will be framing the admission policy and will also be supervising the admission process.

The committee that met for the third time on December 30 after December 7 and 20 has finally decided on registering all admission seekers.

“Whether it will be centralised through OMR forms like the previous years or decentralised with each college having its own form is yet to be decided,” a member of the committee said. But the committee has confirmed that for the academic session 2012-13 none would be taken without pre-registration. “This will help us in putting a check on the fake admission and will also ensure that the colleges are not forced to over admit,” said a principal who is the member of the committee.

The principal also clarified that the Vice-Chancellor in the first meeting of the committee had insisted on making the admission process technically friendly and transparent. “The VC had insisted that the university should move with the students of the current era who are technically very advanced. The VC had insisted that the forms whether centralised or decentralised should be available online. The cut-off list and the list of candidates selected should also be made available to the students through the university or college website,” added the principal.

The member of the committee also clarified that there will be a change in the policy for admission of the students belonging to the SC/ST quota. Till last session, the admission of the SC/ST students was done by the office of Dean Students’ Welfare. The candidates were not given a choice to choose their college and courses. “We have received recommendation from the SC/ST Cell asking for a change in the policy. We are yet to formulate the procedure, but I can confirm that from this session they will have the choice to choose their own college and course,” a principal said.

The guidelines for admission in the sports and extra curricular activity quota will also be debated and if needed amended by the committee. A fresh guideline for admission in the extra-curricular activity quota is likely to be formed for admission in this session. The committee is to submit its final report to the VC in the first week of March.

This is the first occasion in the university where a committee to look into the admission process has been formulated in the month of December. Till the
previous years the university met for the admission as late as May, just a month before the admission process starts in Delhi University.

From Our Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The high-power UGC committee formulated to rework the point based system for promotion of teachers is facing opposition. The system has faced stiff resistance from the teaching fraternity.

However, in the last UGC meeting, Vice-Chancellors of Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia Prof. Dinesh Singh and Prof. Najeeb Jung, respectively,
rejected the point based system for promotion and have proposed that the UGC should come up with a different mechanism.

The point system of promotion was introduced by the UGC in June 2010. To assess the competence of the teachers, the point system of promotion proposed assessment of teachers on three categories -- teaching, extra and co-curricular activities and research and publication.

In the system the teachers are to be promoted not just on the basis of their teaching skills, but also on their participation in the extra curricular
activities and for their research work. The system faced criticism from the teaching community, who felt that the job of a teacher is to teach in the first place and then do a research and write papers.

A high power committee under the chairmanship of Professor M Anandkishnan, Chairman IIT, Kanpur was constituted in December last year to rework on the promotion system for the teachers. The committee is to submit its report in two months time.

The committee comprises of nine members including Dinesh Singh and Najeeb Jung. In the committee meeting held earlier this month, the two Vice-Chancellors rejected the point based system of assessment of teachers. Sources in the UGC confirmed that both the Vice-Chancellors criticised and rejected the point based system and the committee has made up its mind to do away with the system.

The committee has now decided to come up with a new system for promotion of the teachers. In the month of November last year, the two vice chancellors had met the UGC Chairman and the HRD minister requesting to do away with the point system after which this committee has been formed.

The Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) has been protesting against the point system since the time it has been announced by the UGC. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has also refused to adopt the system in the university.

“We have held several protests against the point system for assessment and promotion of the teachers. Our primary job as teachers is to teach. Besides
adequate facilities for research is not available at all places. We have been demanding for the self appraisal system ,” said former FEDCUTA and former DUTA president Aditya N Misra.

In the next meeting of the committee on Thursday, a new promotion mechanism is likely to be discussed and debated. The committee is also likely to work on a uniform guideline for selection and promotion process of the college and the university teachers. “While in some college it is the college trust that takes decision on appointment, in others it is the governing body of the college,” said a member.