Admission issues plague School of Open Learning

Sale of forms was to begin from June 4,and was later postponed to June 8. Forms were,however,available from June 5. H C Pokhriyal,Executive Director of SOL,said,“The delay was caused due to printing problems. We realise the inconvenience caused and are keeping counters open on Sundays as well to sell forms.”

Faculty member J Khuntia,however,said,“The delay is due to the shaky management of issues like the change in eligibility criteria and the increase in fees,which we are protesting against.”

The rift between SOL’s faculty and the university’s top management seems to be widening over the issue of setting 40 per cent as the minimum percentage to register for undergraduate courses. Earlier,candidates merely needed to pass Class XII to enroll.

The Rs-400 hike in fees for undergraduate courses has also worsened the situation.

“DU and the top management took a unilateral decision without referring the matter to the Staff Council and Admission Council,which is the procedure for making such important changes,” Khuntia said.

“We were assured that the matter will be sorted before the registration process begins,but nothing has been done yet,” Tapan Biswal,another faculty member said. “Prospectuses have always been ratified by the faculty,but this year the faculty refused to inspect the prospectuses,which caused the delay in availability.”

“We are moving away from the Open School’s social responsibility of educating the youth with limited resources. No open school in the world has a limited eligibility criteria either.”

Pokhriyal said,“The decision has been taken by the University. The eligibility criteria has been brought at par with other regular colleges. I don’t see any issue in this.” On the issue of fee hike,he said,“Costs have been increasing. Moreover,neither the government nor the UGC has been funding us. Also,study material has to be generated and made available to so many students,which cannot be done without adequate resources.”

The Staff Council members have threatened to resign from all the committees of the body and resort to peaceful dharna if the changes are not repealed or an alternative decided for all those deemed ineligible.

Estimates put the number of students admitted to SOL with a plus two score in the 30-39 per cent range at nearly 4,000.