Bhagat Singh (morning) skirts sports admissions

A common grievance of physical education teachers in DU colleges is that sport is not given its due during admissions.

A common grievance of physical education teachers in DU colleges is that sport is not given its due during admissions.

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In Shaheed Bhagat Singh (morning) college, trials for sports quota haven't been held for over a decade, mainly due to infighting within the staff council.

"In the nineties, the staff council met and decided to suspend the trials," says the college's Director of Physical Education, R.S. Mann.

The official reason given was that the members of the selection panel were being pressurised and threatened by students seeking admission. Mann, however, has a different version.

"The trials were suspended because of infighting in the staff council. The teachers were not being assigned the sport they wanted to head," he adds.

The principal was more cautious when probed on the issue and just said, “Sports quota is open only for the evening college.”

The situation was reviewed in 1999 when it was decided that trials be suspended for five more years but since that time no review has been carried out.

When asked, the convener of the sports council at the college, S.S. Sareen, played down the matter.

“Ours is an academic college and we don't wish to dilute educational standards as we don't get worthy students in the sports quota. In fact, sports quota often becomes a system of pressurising the college authorities," he said.