The Hindu : New Delhi News : Confusion on the Campus

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Confusion on the Campus

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. Though largely successful, this year's attempt by Delhi University for a more "student-friendly'' admission process through the Pre-Admission Intelligent Character Reader (ICR) forms has had its share of hiccups.

The first day of admissions on the campus saw some students who applied for B.A. (Honours) Maths at Maharaja Agrasen College in a quandary. The College does not offer the course though the much-hyped ICR forms lists B.A. (Honours) Maths as an option. "The form clearly gives Maths (Honours) as an option, but the College does not have that course. They should have been more careful,'' complained a student, adding that there were about 30 to 40 students facing the same problem.

Acknowledging the error, the Dean of Students' Welfare, Hema Raghavan, said: "It has been a mistake on our part. The College offers a course in B.Sc in Mathematical Sciences, but in the forms we have given the option of Maths (Honours). We will make the necessary changes in the course option for any student who comes to us. There is no need to change the option of the College because anyone who applies for Maths (Honours) in one college would have also applied in other colleges. But we can change the course option in the form.''

The day also saw several other students who had complaints with the new forms. "The complaints are largely about students filling in the wrong course option or in correct codes. We don't have a problem if they come to us with these mistakes. We can make the necessary changes. After all, this is the first year and we are all human!'' said Dr. Raghavan.

To ensure that the next batch of students are familiar with the forms before the admission process, Dr. Raghavan is considering a meeting with school principals. "It would be good if the students are told how to fill the forms. For right now, it is just loud thinking but if students are informed by their teachers, it would be good,'' she said.

Though it has made the process much more simpler for students, colleges have their own set of complaints. "It would be more sensible to have one set of forms only. It was double work to go through our own forms and then merge the ones from the ICR forms. Next year, they should have only one form so that there is less confusion,'' said the Principal of Hans Raj College, S.R. Arora.

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