The Hindu : New Delhi News : Students launch online petition

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Thursday, May 29, 2008
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New Delhi

Students launch online petition

Parul Sharma

Demand reintroduction of entrance exam for admission to English (Hons) course
‘CBSE format is not reflective of students’ ability to analyse college-level English’

NEW DELHI: Students who have just got their Class XII Board examination results and are seeking admission to Delhi University have started an online petition seeking reintroduction of the entrance examination for admission to the English (Honours) course in different colleges.

The petition, launched over the weekend on an online newsletter — dubeat.com — urges Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental to hold the entrance examination for English (Honours) as it was a “fair forum to show real talent”.

According to the petition, English (Honours) is a literature course and not a language course. “Most students apply for English (Honours) thinking it is a language course. The Central Board of Secondary Education’s question-and-answer format is in no way reflective of the students’ ability to critically analyse college level English text.

English literature specific entrance exams become crucial in gauging the critical acumen of Class XII pass-outs,” says the petition.

Vindhya Malik, one of the students supporting the online petition, says: “A lot of students thought they would score in the 90s in English, but they have got just between 60s-70s.”

Low marks

“The aggregate percentage of a large number of students has been affected because of low English marks and they will be affected badly if there is no entrance test.” she adds.

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