Trials under the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) quota for admission to Delhi University began on Friday for dance, vocals, theatre and debate categories.
Unlike previous years, the university centralised all trials this year and the candidates gathered at a common venue on a common date. On Friday, trials were held at Hans Raj College (theatre), Kirori Mal College (vocals), Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College (debate) and Keshav Mahavidyalaya (dance).
Sub-categories
Even as the university had made it clear that students will be required to select sub-categories from the list of activities available on the admission portal, many who failed to do so could be seen struggling.
For example, a student who failed to pick between Indian classical, Indian light (Bollywood/ ghazals) and western in the vocals category got disqualified when he/she auditioned for an unfamiliar genre.
“Colleges lost out on future talent they could have harnessed because many students failed to distinguish between different categories of music and auditioned for categories they were not familiar with. This confusion extended to the Indian classical and Indian-light (bollywood/ghazals) categories in particular,” said Kirori Mal College music society president Dan Thomas.
Guidelines
Some students even blamed the lack of clear guidelines by the university for this debacle.
“DU guidelines were not updated till late on Thursday night. I prepared a four-minute theatre piece, but was informed at the trial centre that each applicant will get just two minutes. I’m afraid my act won’t make sense now,” said Aparajita Parashar, who passed out from Ryan International School in Vasant Kunj.
Another student added: “I failed to choose Indian light, which is the category I sing in, and ended up going for the classical trials. I have been disqualified.”
Confusion
The revised guidelines for ECA rules were updated on the university’s official website, with detailed instructions and rules for trials under each activity, on Wednesday.
At Khalsa College, there was confusion over the dates for English and Hindi debate trials. Many students who had applied for admission under the Hindi debate trials also turned up, only to be sent back by the authorities.
“I turned up thinking that Hindi debate trials will also take place today [on Friday]. I found out that trials were on only for English debate,” said a student, who had come to Khalsa College.
Smita Mishra, the associate professor for journalism at Khalsa College, said: “We received 1,300 applicants for English debate. It will take time for the process to streamline. The biggest hurdle we faced was organising and directing the students about the days they had to come for their trials.”
Nachiketa Singh, who is part of the university admissions committee, said: “Teething problems always plague any new process. The registration process was a bit delayed. We are sorting out problems to facilitate smooth functioning.”
Judges
The judges called for the Indian classical trials were a mix of Delhi University faculty members and trained professionals from the industry. The jury for the English debate trials comprised an associate professor from Kirori Mal College, a retired journalist and an author. The panel for the theatre trials was kept under wraps as the college feared pressure from parents.
The final trials for various activities will be conducted between July 15 and 18. Those who have qualified in the preliminary round will be called for the final trial.
Admissions will finally take place on the basis of the trial marks, certificates and Class XII board examination marks.
(The writer is an Intern with The Hindu)
