November 3, 2020
TED NewsDesk, New Delhi: As the Center lifted the lockdown from educational institutions across the country, the newly admitted students of Delhi University are all set to begin their college life. Aniket Solanki, a student enrolled in Moti Lal Nehru College, bought clothes worth Rs 6000. He sought admission for BA History Honors course. Amid all the hustle, it seems that the virus has shattered the excitement of enjoying a warm welcome, cultural and orientation events for Solanki and other newcomers like him. The Delhi University in its recent notice announced that the classes for UG and PG students are beginning from November 18. However, it mentioned that the varsity prefers to follow online mode for education.
Attending classes over the phone is not easy.
Admitting issues related to online education, a student from Tamil Nadu who secured admission in Hindu College for BSc Chemistry said, “Science courses have practicals, and my parents and I are not sure how we are supposed to do that online.”
The varsity is one of the well-renowned central institutes for higher education in India, attracts 50 per cent crowd from across the country every year. Even with 100 per cent as its maximum cut-offs, the enrollment exceeded the limit of 70,000 seats. With the closing of admission procedures, the varsity will shift to an online platform for every work- the first time in its history.
Colleges preparations are on.
“This year, we may not be able to provide that classroom teaching experience to our teachers, but we will make sure that they are provided with required materials online. There are different education and societies such as dance, debate, drama, art and street play in our college. The details and prospectus will be uploaded on the college website, and the students will also be auditioned online,” said Suman Sharma, principal of Lady Shri Ram College (LSR). The college will have a separate orientation ceremony for general elective classes. The aim is to help students to adapt to online sessions and to ensure the smooth running of the same.
“It is difficult for students to choose the disciplines in a day. So, they will be properly explained, guided about the different disciplines we have. The students can choose the courses after two-three attempts,” said the principal. LSR is an off-campus college solely for women. The maximum cut-offs for three honours programmes (BA Psychology, Economics and Political Science) was 100 per cent.
Some colleges in West Delhi like Rajdhani College plans to re-open the campus voluntarily for practical based courses.
“We have a special committee for the UPSC and civil services aspirants. Thus, an online discussion will be conducted, and a general interaction session will be organised online department-wise. Besides, there are courses like BA programmes and BSc programmes which have combinations of multiple courses, and the students may face difficulties online. Thus, we have appointed special coordinators and teachers for these courses so that the students can have one-on-one interaction,” informed Rajesh Giri, Principal of Rajdhani College.
He also informed that the authorities are busy designing the curriculum and routine for the digital classes. The practical sessions will take place once a week. Besides, the college administration will shortlist the willing candidates for National Cadet Corps (NCC) who will then have to visit the campus once in a week for training.
The Principal of Arya Bhatta College, Mr Manoj Sinha, said that the teachers, HoDs, council-bearers, will interact with the freshers. “The students have come up with very innovative ideas. Some have even made videos about the college and the facilities that the freshers can avail,” informed Sinha.
“In my college, there is no pure science course, but there are professional courses such as BA psychology, computer science, BBA, BMS which require practicals. For these courses, we will try to integrate practicals with online classes,” added the secretary of DU Principal Association (DUPA).
Facilitating e-resources
“Covid-19 cases are increasing every day in the city. But, the varsity is working and developing syllabi and modules with added practical components. The varsity has created ‘ONEDU’ — an online portal on how to prepare study material for promoting online education in the time of corona,” outlined Rajeev Gupta, Dean, Students Welfare (DSW),
Gupta informed, ” The Education Ministry has permitted to open varieties partially for science and technology courses. We also have that permission and are looking into it. If we get requests from colleges to open the varsity for such courses, we will revisit those guidelines. We have also thought of many options for science students — like how to call them in a staggered manner, odd-even or roll number-wise. But what makes the DU different from other universities is that it is an open campus. Other central universities have residential complexes, where students can live and study. But, here, the hostel facility is less, and the existing are sharing.”
Admission under the 4th cut-off list begins.
The varsity started the enrollment of students meeting the fourth cut-off on Monday. It issued the list for UG admissions on Saturday following which it uploaded the lists of arts, science and commerce streams on its official website- du.ac.in. The admission portal opened at 10 am on Monday where students to apply to the university and the colleges affiliated to it. The deadline for enrollment against the fourth cut-off list is November 4. The website will close at 5 pm.
In the view of COVID-19, DU along with several other educational institutions is abiding by the social distancing rules. The sudden shift in the platform requires a lot of effort from the institutions to design a framework for off-campus classes to yield engaging and professional outcomes.
Source: New Indian Express
