Delhi University’s 'mop-up' round for admissions sparks CUET credibility row

Delhi University’s (DU) decision to open a "mop-up" round of undergraduate admissions based on Class 12 marks, to fill vacant seats, has put into question the credibility of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) through which the university has been conducting admissions since 2022. As per the latest data issued by DU, more than 7,000 seats remain empty for admissions across colleges — an unusually high number, teachers said. Most of these are for the reserved categories.

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Vacant seats after spot rounds

Ever since 2022, around 5,000-7,000 seats have remained vacant even after spot rounds. Most of the vacant seats are in off-campus colleges and women’s colleges. DU’s decision to make Class 12 marks the criterion has thrown up various concerns. Teachers question the rationale behind having two separate criteria for admissions, and have also raised doubts over the credibility of CUET itself.

“Admission in the mop-round will be done on the basis of the merit score of the qualifying examination, Class XII or equivalent (Not CUET) …” the DU Registrar said in a press release on September 3.

Former DU Teachers’ Association President Aditya Narayan Mishra said the root of the problem was the National Education Policy (NEP) under which CUET was implemented.

Admissions have been done through the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) under CUET since 2022. The whole process is centralised. Applicants choose their college and course preference through a centralised portal, and based on their preference and their CUET score, students are allocated seats in colleges.

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Teachers question dual admission criteria

"Mop-up rounds, based on XII marks, show that there were many courses and colleges, which used to get local population. CUET is an unnecessary barricade which the local population doesn't want to overcome. Students from outside may not be interested in those streams or colleges," said Democratic Teachers’ Front Secretary Abha Dev Habib.

"Also, what is the point of having two different criteria for admission to the same seats. It makes no sense. The university should have only one uniform criterion," she said.

Former DU Teachers’ Association President Aditya Narayan Mishra said the root of the problem was the National Education Policy (NEP) under which CUET was implemented.

“By taking admissions away from colleges and centralising the process under its own control, the Delhi University administration has openly violated the university’s ordinances and encroached upon the jurisdiction of colleges. The current admission system lacks transparency, and students are suffering the consequences,” he said.

Habib also said that the reason far-flung colleges like Bhagini Nivedita College and Aditi Mahavidyalaya were able to hold admissions was because they catered to the local population. “Many of these students may not even know about CUET, or they may not want to sit for a centralised exam because they either don’t have the financial means or don’t expect to perform well. And outstation students will not want to study in these colleges,” she said.

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Principals echo similar concerns

Principals of colleges where there are a large number of vacancies across courses also pointed to the same factors.

“When we had the cut-off system, colleges would issue the cut-offs based on their own experience and the kind of students they attracted. There were vacancies then, too, but not so many. Now we have been completely kept outside the admission process, so we don’t really know why there are vacant seats. Even when admissions do take place, we see that students leave when they get their upgraded choice,” said Darshan Pandey, Principal of Rajdhani College.

A principal of a women’s college said the quality of students had also dropped under CUET. “We have been seeing that the quality of children has dropped. This system was supposed to help, but it has created a lot more problems. Our colleges were meant to cater to the local students, but they’re not coming,” she said.

The mop-up round has also drawn concern since DU is now in the sixth week of its 14-week semester, which means students who join now will struggle to finish their course.

Another reason for this is that the admission process has become delayed and longer. “I suspect that students are preferring to go to state universities or private colleges, which have their admissions before DU. That has also reduced the pool,” she said.

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Delhi University denies claims

The mop-up round has also drawn concern since DU is now in the sixth week of its 14-week semester, which means students who join now will struggle to finish their course.

“There's no explanation for how these newly admitted students will cope with the loss of six weeks of teaching in a semester spanning 14 weeks. This is a sure shot recipe for destroying the public-funded institutions of higher learning in our country,” said Rudrashish Chakraborty, a teacher of English at Kirori Mal College.

However, the DU administration denied that the situation was worse under CUET. “The vacancy is only in courses like Sanskrit and Hindi, which used to be the case earlier also. We introduced the Class 12 criterion because some principals came to us and said that local students were not aware of CUET, and perhaps by doing this, they would get admissions,” said Dean of Admissions Haneet Gandhi.

“But most of the meritorious students we have got are through the CUET process only. And there is a very strong correlation between CUET scores and Class 12 marks. DU is a pan-Indian university; it’s a central university, so we have to take CUET admissions. We can’t concentrate only on Delhi,” she said.