DU Admissions 2020: DU Executive Council demands ECA trials amid strict COVID-19 protocols

Merely dependence on the certificates cannot be a sound basis of objective evaluation of the performance-based artistic skills. There should be trials for ECA disciplines, DU Executive Council members demanded. 

Delhi University Executive Council members have demanded that the trials for extra-curricular activities (ECA) should be held while adhering to all COVID-19 safety protocols and guidelines. The council raised the issue during the emergency EC meeting that was held on September 21. This year, considering the coronavirus situation in the country, the varsity had earlier decided to given admissions in ECA category based on the certificates.

This year, DU had decided to not hold the ECA admissions, barring those having NCC and NSS certificates in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it was decided in July that admissions under 12 categories, including music, dance, divinity, yoga, will be held this year on the basis of certificates. Executive Council member Rajesh Jha said they have received many letters from gurus, artists and experts, who suggested that the trials for ECA quota admissions can be held with the precautions required for COVID-19.

"Merely dependence on the certificates cannot be a sound basis of objective evaluation of the performance-based artistic skills. There should be trials for these disciplines.

"In order to avoid crowding and ensure physical distancing, colleges should be allowed to conduct the ECA selection process and admissions as the admissions are statutorily within the jurisdiction of the college staff councils," he said. 

He also raised the issue of online open book exams and said it was conducted while  bypassing the statutory bodies - Academic Council and Executive Council.

"There is a very serious deviation that the anonymity of the answer scripts has not been maintained. The university has in the past upheld the ethical aspect of protecting the identity of the student (name and college) on the answer scripts," he said.

However, this time, the name of the student is flashed on the screen when the examiner opens the portal, which is a "serious compromise with confidentiality and goes against the principles of fairness and justice", he said. Jha said that the "examination was exclusionary in nature".

Among regular students, around 4 per cent of students did not appear in the first phase of open-book exam, which increased to 13 per cent in the case of School of Open Learning and 23.5-24 per cent in the case of persons with disabilities students, he said.

Read More:

• Delhi University Admission 2020
• Delhi University Cutoff 2019/2018/2017