DU academic calendar to be on track from next session: Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh

NEW DELHI: Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh on Monday assured that the academic calendar, which has been disrupted for the last three years due to COVID-19, will be on track from the next academic year. The university will also "brainstorm" ideas to ensure all 70,000 seats in colleges are filled, he said. Last year, nearly 5,000 seats remained vacant.

The University of Delhi launched its admission website for the academic year 2023-2024 on Monday. Over the last three years, students and teachers have raised concerns over the academic calendar, especially since there had been no breaks between the semesters. The first semester usually begins in mid-July.

However, the pandemic forced the university the truncate the semester with no mid-semester breaks. In the last academic year, the semester begin in November and the admission process was stretched as the first edition of the Common University Entrance Test for UG admission was conducted between July and August.

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"We have launched the official website of the academic session. This year, we are confident that the academic calendar, which has been disrupted for the last three years due to COVID-19, will be on track for the upcoming academic year," Singh told PTI. "The UGC has also released the CUET schedule for this year and the exam will be conducted in May. We are hopeful to conclude the counselling and start the semester in mid-July," he added.

The application process for the second edition of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG will begin on Thursday night and will remain open till March 12, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said. The exam is scheduled to be conducted from May 21-31. The Admission Branch of the Delhi University will also be hosting a series of webinars to help the candidates with CUET(UG)-2023. The first webinar of this series will be conducted at 3 pm, Friday 17.

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Singh said the university will take steps to fill all 70,000 seats across its colleges. He also pointed out that the seats remained vacant last academic year in minority colleges only in certain cases. "We will ensure all 70,000 seats are filled in the university this year. We will brainstorm ideas and will take steps to ensure all the seats are filled. Last year, seats remained empty in certain colleges in particular courses," Singh added.

The DU started taking admission across all UG courses through CUET from the last academic session, instead of taking into account the Class 12 marks. A statement released by Registrar Vikas Gupta read, "The University of Delhi has also launched its admission website for the Academic Year 2023-2024 (admission.uod.ac.in)." To seek admission to the Undergraduate programmes of the University of Delhi for the academic year 2023-24, the candidates must appear in CUET (UG) 2023, Gupta said.

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"The candidates are advised to refer to the website of CUET (UG)-23 (cuet.samarth.ac.in) for information bulletin, eligibility requirements for admission in University of Delhi, syllabi of various test papers, and other details related to registration to CUET (UG) 2023," he added.

The information bulletin for undergraduate programmes gives detailed guidelines, seat matrix, programme-specific eligibilities of various courses and other relevant information. Information related to the choice of languages and domain-specific subjects of CUET(UG) 2023 as per the requirements of various programmes have been given in the Bulletin of Information (UG) 2023.

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The admission branch has also taken initiatives in spreading awareness on CUET(UG)-2023. “Infographics in the form of illustrative examples have been uploaded on the website to help candidates choose their test papers as per the requirements of the programme-specific eligibility," Gupta said.

"Video tutorials, in Hindi and English, explaining the registration process, choosing test papers from Section I, lI and III and uploading of required documents for CUET(UG) 2023 will be made live soon on the admission website of the university. The Admission Branch will also be hosting a series of webinars to help the candidates with CUET(UG)-2023," he added.