This year, again, the cutoffs of Delhi University are on a new, high level. The first cutoff of 10 Delhi University colleges is 100%.
One wonders what it is that makes Delhi University cutoffs soaring high? Is this about the university or our rapidly declining education system? Afterall, how can you expect people to score 100%, right?
Questions like these must be troubling your mind since DU released their first cutoff list on October 1. The admission process will begin from October 4.
Let’s look at the reasons why DU cutoffs are always sky high?
A History of High DU Cutoffs
DU is infamous for releasing sky-high cutoffs every year. Countless memes and jokes revolve around this.
This year the cutoffs for colleges like SRCC, Hansraj, Hindu, Ramjas, JMC are particularly high. Last year it was LSR, Miranda, St Stephens, etc. The trend continues like this.
The first cutoff list always consists of numbers like 100, 99, 98, etc. Even after releasing 7-8 cutoff lists, for general category DU never goes below 90% for most of the courses.
Delhi University is regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Is this the reason why cutoffs soar so high every year? However, one wonders whether marks are the only parameter here?
But why are DU cutoffs so high?
If one examines it closely, it becomes clear that as far as the cutoffs are concerned, Delhi University is not entirely to blame.
The cutoffs are decided by carefully examining the board percentages, total number of students who passed and failed in that particular academic year, and the best four percentages of students.
This year, as we all know, traditional board examinations did not take place due to the pandemic. This resulted in an inflation of board percentages. An enormously high number of students have 100% percentages in their best four subjects. A huge proportion of students scored more than 95% overall.
Speaking on the cutoff criteria, Manoj Sinha, principal of Aryabhatta College and president of Delhi University Principals’ Association said – “Even though we have to consider 22-23 different school education boards, the bulk of the input comes from the CBSE so we primarily look at what the results for its board exams are looking like in a year. If the mean percentage has gone up, I too will have to increase my cut-offs. And as in the case of this year, if there are over 5000 applicants with 100%, there is very little that the university administration or any college can do.”
The underlying problems
There’s a huge problem with this merit-based admission process that no one talks about or if they talk about it, no one listens to them.
It’s about admitting more students than necessary. The cutoff system allows the administrative staff to take in all the students who apply as long as they are fulfilling the cutoff criteria.
It has been observed that, various colleges affiliated to DU have a capacity of holding classes for at most 60 students at a time. However, the students in one class often surpass this number. There are, easily, 80-100 students in one section in various classes.
This has led to a lot of problems since the infrastructure isn’t designed to have so many students.
Are the board examinations worth the hype?
With more than half of the students opting for JEE/NEET or higher studies abroad, one wonders whether board examinations have gone obsolete?
It seems like only Delhi University is keeping them alive.
But are they a real parameter to measure the academic prowess of students? Ain’t board exams based on rote learning methods?
These are some questions that will vary from person to person and school to school.
All in all, most of the people agree that there should be a change in our education system, as a whole.
Statistics of 12th board results 2021
Conclusion
While we are certainly not happy with the process, those wishing to continue their higher education academic pursuits from India have little choice in this matter.
We are hoping to see some improvement in the future. We hope there will be next to none disparities in the education system in the coming years. Till then, we wish all the aspiring students all the best for their future colleges. We hope you get the course and college of your choice, even if you don’t remember that this will not be the end of the world.