Why Delhi University needs more colleges and better infrastructure
With cut-offs touching 100% for some courses, establishing new institutes can be an advantage for students who scored 80-85%
New Delhi October 27 dmanewsdesk: The Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal had recently written to the education minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to amend section 5 (2) of the Delhi University (DU) Act. The section 5 (2) says that any new college in Delhi has to be affiliated to the Delhi University. However, no new college was affiliated to the varsity in the last 30 years. In the 1998 amendment, the Indraprastha (IP) University IP University was accommodated in the act for professional courses.
Kejriwal claimed that the universities have reached their maximum threshold for affiliating colleges and hence, there is a need to amend the DU Act so that new universities and colleges can be established in the capital. The request has evoked mixed reactions among the faculty.
Rajib Ray, president of Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), says that move will affect the affordability of education. “There are around 28 DU colleges under the Delhi government. They are facing extreme financial crunch and no funds are being allotted to the institutions; faculty have not received salaries for over six months. The number of colleges must increase but the institutions must have the autonomy, which may not be possible after colleges outside DU start coming up,” he adds.
He also adds that the fee hike in the Delhi government-run DU colleges is worrisome. “DU is home for students coming from economically weaker sections of the society. Once the government starts applying its rules to the new colleges, in no time, the fee will also be increased and education will become unaffordable,” he adds Ray.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bennettjul2020_form_edutimes.cms
On the other hand, Pankaj Kumar Chaudhary, assistant professor, Shyamlal College, says that setting up new colleges will be beneficial for the average scorers. “Half of the seats across courses in our college have been filled up only after the second cut-off. Students with 80-85% hardly get a seat in DU. While improving the infrastructure of existing colleges is crucial, setting up new colleges in the capital will be a boon for average scorers,” he says.
At Hindu College, where the first cut-off for most courses did not go below 99%, admissions in 10 out 21 courses have been closed after the second cut-off.
Anju Srivastava, principal of Hindu College, says that with an increasing number of 100% scorers in class XII boards, it is imperative to increase the number of seats. “The Act can be amended for the limited purpose as the changes will not affect the existing colleges under the DU. When you have more than 3 lakh students applying for around 1 lakh seats, it calls for an alternative solution to avoid skewed student-teacher ratio,” she adds.
Source: education Times
