In a major setback for the aspiring students of Bachelor of Arts (BA) Economics (Honours) in colleges of Delhi University (DU), the Varsity administration has made changes in the admission criteria for the course. Till last year, it was compulsory for students to study Mathematics in Class XII but it was not necessary to include in the 'best of four subjects'. This year, it has been made compulsory to include Mathematics in best of four subjects.
Aishwarya, a commerce student, has scored 96 per cent in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and is keen to get admission in BA Economics (Honours) course. But with the new rule being framed by the DU administration, students like Aishwarya will miss the bus as it is compulsory to have scored minimum 60 per cent.
She was crestfallen after going through the Under Graduate (UG) admission bulletin which states that a student should have scored 60 per cent marks in Mathematics to opt for BA Economics(honors). "I have scored well in all subjects but in Mathematics, I have scored 55 marks and with this percentage I am not eligible to opt for the course," said Aishwarya with disappointment writ large on her face.
The varsity has made changes in the criteria for calculating best of four subjects from this academic year 2019-20. "Till last year, it was compulsory to have studied Mathematics in class XII but it was not necessary to include in best four subjects. This year it has been made compulsory to include Mathematics in best four subjects."
Besides, the change has become a major drawback for hundreds of students. Even the students who have good percentage did not able to make it as they have scored fewer marks in Mathematics.
"Without adding Mathematics, my best of four percentages is 91.75 but I have scored 74 in Mathematics and when I calculate with adding it, the percentage is dropped to 83 percent," said a Riya, another student.
Apart from this course, the best of four criteria has also changed for B.Com (Honors) course in which the students should have scored minimum 50 percent marks in Mathematics.
Having noticed the grievances of the students, Academic Council (AC) member Professor Ratnesh Rajan Saxena, has written to Yogesh Tyagi, the Vice Chancellor (VC), DU requesting him to revisit the criteria for the next academic year 2020-21.
"BA (H) economics is one of the highly reputed courses of DU and has one of the highest cut off among all courses. Every mark in best 4 subjects of class XII means a lot for this course. I know of students who are losing as much as 10-15 marks because of inclusion of Mathematics in best 4 subjects. In fact, some of them have secured 99-100 marks in economics. If a student can secure such high percentage in economics, he/she can score higher in Mathematics too", Prof Saxena said.
"It is unfair for such a group of students. Had this decision been announced earlier, they would have worked harder to secure higher marks in Mathematics. I sincerely request you to kindly revisit this decision and implement that for the next academic year i.e. 2020-21. By implementing this decision for current academic year, we are going to lose some of the deserving talented students," Prof Saxena stated in his letter to the VC.
There are 2,300 seats for BA Economics Honors course and about 96,700 students have opted for the course last year in academic year 2018-19.
