Changes in CBSE evaluation process may affect DU admissions

The CBSE on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it will not conduct the remaining class 10 and 12 exams, scheduled between July 1 and July 15, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Delhi University (DU) may have to make changes in its admission criteria in case the Central Board of Education’s (CBSE) alternative evaluation plan is not similar with that of other education and state boards like earlier years, officials said on Thursday.

The board, however, said those in class 12 can either take exams later or move ahead with the internal assessment based on their performance in the last three internal exams. (Raj K Raj/HT photo)

The CBSE on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it will not conduct the remaining class 10 and 12 exams, scheduled between July 1 and July 15, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The board, however, said those in class 12 can either take exams later or move ahead with the internal assessment based on their performance in the last three internal exams. The board, however, is yet to come up with a detailed evaluation plan for class 12 students.

Shobha Bagai, Dean of Admissions (DU), said the university will hold a meeting to discuss the impact of any change in CBSE’s evaluation policy on the merit-based undergraduate admissions in DU colleges. “We will have to check how the CBSE is announcing the results this year. The changed criteria won’t affect the entrance-based admissions. But in case of merit-based admissions, we will have to see if CBSE’s plan of evaluation is in parity with other state educational boards. Many state boards have already announced their results. So, if the CBSE is not making major changes, we will go ahead with our existing admission process. However, if there are some major changes in the evaluation process and it becomes difficult to assess it on the same level of other educational boards, then we will have to think and make some adjustments in the admission process as well,” she said.

In DU, the maximum number of applicants seeking admissions in undergraduate courses are from CBSE-affiliated schools. Last year, out of total 2,58,388 applications in UG courses, 2,05,434 were CBSE students.

Pankaj Garg, a faculty at DU’s Rajdhani College and a former member of DU’s admission committee, said there could be a major issue in calculating best of four subjects due to changes in CBSE’s evaluation process. “The exams of some subjects such as Sociology, Geography and Hindi in which DU offers honours courses are still pending. For those from the northeast Delhi, other exams are pending. It’s mandatory to include these subjects while calculating the aggregate of the best four subjects for admission. In case, some students could not perform well in these subjects in the internal exams, they might lose the opportunity to get a seat in a DU college,” he said.

Several principals raised concerns over the delay in the admission process. Rama Sharma, principal of Hansraj College, said, “Admissions are already delayed this year due to Covid-19. The university will be able to release cutoffs after the CBSE declares the results of class 12 exams. In case a large number of students opt for exams later as an option given by the board, the admission process can be delayed further. The university cannot wait for that long to start the admissions.”

DU had started the registration process for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses on June 20. It did not declare the dates for the cutoff lists in view of the pending CBSE board exams.