Students happy to be in college, wary of semesters

For students who are stepping into Delhi University (DU) this year, college may no longer be the stepping stone to a more exciting social life. While colleges, on Wednesday, opened their doors to students with the orientation programme, incumbent students remained wary of the rigour of the impending semester system. Shaswati Das reports.

For students who are stepping into Delhi University (DU) this year, college may no longer be the stepping stone to a more exciting social life. While colleges, on Wednesday, opened their doors to students with the orientation programme, incumbent students remained wary of the rigour of the impending semester system.

HT Image

"It's great to finally step into college after 12 years of school. But from what we have been told by our seniors, we won't be able to relax as much as they did because the schedule, along with the tutorials, will be much more intensive," said Isha Kapur, who has taken admission in Lady Sri Ram College.

This feeling of apprehension comes after the Academic Council passed all courses offered by DU, to be converted into the semester system, from the earlier annual system of grading. Even though students believe the change is for the better, they feel that it may leave them with less time to explore college beyond academics.

"I was very keen on trying my hand at dramatics in DU. But that requires intensive practice after college hours. With this new system, we will just be trying to balance assignments and classes, instead of exploring extra-curricular activities," said Siddharth Arora, a student of Hansraj College.

The University made it clear that there would be no relaxation in attendance criteria under the new system.

"Students will have to learn to squeeze in other activities and their social life through this system. They will have to maintain 66.66% attendance throughout the semester," said Gulshan Sawhney, deputy dean of students' welfare, DU.