Cleared DU; yet looking beyond

Even after making it to DU, there has been a rising trend of cinsidering alternatives beyond it, reports Sumegha Gulati.

The first cut-off list of Delhi University, released early Thursday, evoked mixed reactions from students, parents and teachers. While quite a few of them awaited anxiously for the list, there has been a lot of hue and cry of late concerning looking at alternatives beyond DU.

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Sweta, Amity School, Noida, says, “ I scored 96% and have made it to SRCC and St. Stephens. Yet, I have decided to pursue Bachelors of Business with a dual degree in Economics from NTU, Singapore. The CBSE results are dicey and DU’s curriculum is extremely theoretical. My luck was good but it doesn’t mean people who have secured in 80’s and 90’s are any less deserving. Thus, I chose to go abroad.”

Delhi University equates all boards with CBSE, even though the course structure of all boards is completely diverse. This often results in students from ICSE and other similar scoring boards benefiting over CBSE ones. Moreover, entry is very difficult to good colleges even if one has good marks, due to competition and nepotism. The system is examination oriented and every thing is based on Board examination. Education is theory based.

Mayank, a commerce scholar, opines: “Delhi University has only one college offering a course in Mass Media, and that too is a girls’ one. Even though I cleared journalism entrances, I opted for IP University’s BJMC as it has better exposure and scope. The inflexible, restricted curriculum made me make this choice.”

Professor Faisal Haq, visiting faculty at various DU, IP University and Amity University Colleges voices a similar view, “People may prefer Amity or IP University over Delhi University colleges due to the glamour, exposure and infrastructure associated with them. The well-equipped studios, auditoriums, resourced and funded newspapers, magazines and journals; state-of-the-art libraries etc are some of the salient features that most substitutes of DU offer. Also, programmes like choice of a dual degree and exchange programmes are better conceived than in DU.”

Once regarded as the bastion of quality education in India, today DU, due to its inflexibility in operations, academics-centric curriculum and lack of innovation has seen a decline in its popularity. It’s high time the esteemed Central University took measures to be a focus for the talent once again.