Several colleges blatantly flouted university regulations and illegally closed their admission gates before time this admission season. Their cut-offs were too low and students too many; they had no classrooms and no teachers to accommodate them. Some colleges had to even call the police after angry students and their parents refused to leave. All was well in the end when they were forced to admit all students who came calling or was it? Do these colleges have the infrastructure in terms of space and teachers to deal with the excess students?
Maharaja Agrasen College, the first college to close admissions for its B.Tech (Computer Science) programme, said it did not really have a problem on its hands as the college had only just built a new block and had nine teachers to handle the subject.
“We have admitted around 130 students against the sanctioned strength of 60,” said Principal Sunil Sondhi.
The admission committee in the college had vacated its office and refused to function when the seats got full within an hour. The parents and children had first confronted the college Principal and then moved on to the Dean Students’ Welfare office.
Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, which was also brought to heel by the Dean Students’ Welfare, said: “We have admitted around 93 students against the sanctioned strength of 50 in our Computer Science programme. We had around 117 withdrawals,” Principal Sandeep Kumar Sharma said.
The college will be hiring an extra teacher and dividing the students into sections and taking classes from 8.30 a.m. to 5.40 p.m. to make up for excess students, he added.
On July 2, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College was the picture of chaos as it closed its admission gates in panic, having already over-admitted students within a few hours in many of its courses. The college were ordered by the Dean Students’ Welfare to admit all the students.
“Around 250 students withdrew their admissions, so the situation is very good. We have no trouble either with the classrooms or the teachers. In fact, we have admitted just 800 students, only 20 more than the sanctioned strength of 780,” claimed Principal Jaswinder Singh. “We have around 160 teachers, out of which 150 are going to report for duty,” he added.
Colleges like Sri Aurobindo College and College of Vocational Studies, however, are yet to be made answerable as they have refused to follow the instructions of the Dean Students’ Welfare.
“I still have students coming here and complaining that these colleges refuse to admit them despite our directions. In fact, I have written umpteen letters and made many phone calls, but the Sri Aurobindo College does not receive my calls,” said Dean Students’ Welfare South Campus Dinesh Varshini, adding it was now left to the enquiry committee to take action.
Meanwhile, around 58,000 students will start classes under Delhi University’s new four-year undergraduate programme on Wednesday. On the first day of the new session, some colleges plan to hold an orientation programme, while others have already conducted it, and yet others have decided to get on with classes straightaway.
“Students will be taken to their departments and given copies of the time-table and a folder containing some reading material they can use on the first day of classes,” said Ramjas College Principal Rajendra Prasad.
He added that the number of students joining this year was only a little above the sanctioned strength. “Last year, we had around 2,000 admissions compared to our sanctioned strength of 1,000. This year, everything seems to be in control.”
Foundation classes will be held for the first time. “This is a transitional phase so everything is new,” added Dr. Prasad.
Hindu College is also planning an orientation session.
“It is the usual tradition — we gather in the hall, I give a speech and then the students go the Department and meet their teachers,” said Hindu College Principal Pradyum Kumar, adding that their yearly magazine will also be released.
Colleges like St. Stephen’s, Kirori Mal and some others have already held their orientation session. The North Campus is likely to witness heavy police presence to prevent any untoward incident.
“We have set up two control centres, one in the North and the other in the South. North Campus can be reached at 27667221 and South Campus at 24119832,” said Deputy Dean Students’ Welfare Dinesh Varshney.
