The Academic Council meeting of the University of Mysore (UoM) on Friday witnessed a heated debate on the eligibility for admissions to MA in English since the criteria doesn’t match conditions laid down for admissions to other courses offered.
Shivabasavaiah, director, Chamarajnagar PG Centre, UoM, urged the Vice-Chancellor, who chaired the meeting, to modify the cut-off percentage for admissions to MA English from 45 to 40% for SC/ST candidates and 50 to 45% for general merit candidates. For other courses, the eligibility is 40% for SC/ST candidates and 45% for General Merit candidates, he added.
Not many takers
If the suggestion was accepted, more students, particularly from rural areas, will apply for the English course. But the eligibility conditions had been stopping many from pursuing the course, he argued. The course at the Chamarajnagar PG Centre had to be withdrawn two years ago for want of students.
Mahadev, Dean (Academic – Humanities), said there were no feeder colleges in Chamarajnagar and therefore admissions went down. If BA (English) was introduced in colleges, the matter would be addressed, he said, arguing that the cut-off percentage should not be modified keeping only admissions in mind as it would affect quality.
MLC Appaji Gowda suggested that there was no harm in amending the cut-off percentage if it benefited students.
However, some senior professors said the Board of Studies frames the syllabus as well as admission regulations. The matter should be placed before the particular BoS and the autonomy of the board should not be curtailed, they suggested.
New committee
Hearing the arguments, G. Hemantha Kumar, V-C, announced the constitution of a committee to look into whether the eligibility criteria could be reviewed taking note of admissions over the last five years.
It will submit its report within a week to facilitate the admissions, he said.
