Delhi University’s open-for-all certificate courses to start this March

Envisaged under the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020), the CES will enable students from other universities and even employed professionals to pursue various courses offered by the varsity and earn a certificate

The Delhi University is likely to launch its Competence Enhancement Scheme (CES) in March, when the second semester of the current batch of first-year students begins, varsity officials aware of the matter said on Saturday.

The concept note of the scheme states that it will enable people from “different walks of life” to join the university to enhance their knowledge and understanding of any subject being taught at DU. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Envisaged under the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020), the CES will enable students from other universities and even employed professionals to pursue various courses offered by the varsity and earn a certificate. The concept note of the scheme states that it will enable people from “different walks of life” to join the university to enhance their knowledge and understanding of any subject being taught at DU.

A proposal for the implementation of CES was approved by DU’s statutory bodies in 2022.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta said, “The first semester is currently underway. It should continue till February. By the beginning of the second semester, we should be able to launch CES. The scheme will benefit both students and professionals.”

According to the DU academic calendar, the second semester for first-year students will begin in mid-March.

Officials aware of the scheme said interested candidates can sign up for one or two courses every semester without enrolling in the whole programme. Candidates will be able to study with regular students enrolled in that particular programme, they said.

The number of available seats in a course will be a maximum of 10% of the total strength of the class. For example, for a course with a student strength of 70, the number of CES seats will be seven. Students enrolled in an educational institution or employed will have to furnish a no-objection certificate from the institute/employer at the time of registration.

Admissions under the scheme will be merit-based and candidates will be allowed to register for a maximum of two courses and eight credit subjects per semester.

The registration of candidates for a specific course will be valid for a single semester only. The credits earned from the courses will be transferred to a student account in the academic bank of credits. Candidates will also get a certificate post-completion of the course.

Besides the launch of CES, 2023 will also see the adoption of CUET for postgraduate examinations. The decision to hold PG admissions through CUET was taken based on the recommendation of a 10-member committee that suggested that admission to all postgraduate programmes is carried out through a single window mechanism under which CUET-PG will replace the current DU entrance test (DUET) in 2023.

On Friday, DU issued a notification stating that admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes will be conducted on the basis of CUET score alone. “Admissions, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, including those under reserved category and minority quota will be carried out centrally, solely on the basis of CUET score,” said Gupta.