New Delhi : Delhi University's decision to make mathematics mandatory for admission to its B.Com course has been slammed as "untimely" and "unfair" by a section of parents and students who want at least a two-year window before any such implementation.
In separate letters to CBSE chairman, DU Vice Chancellor and HRD minister, these students, parents and teachers have sought their intervention into the issue.
Making amendments in its admission policy, DU had last month announced that it will be compulsory for admission seekers to B.Com (Hons) courses and Economics (Hons) to have studied maths in class XII.
For B.Com pass course if the student has not studied maths in class XII or doesn't include the subject's marks in the best-four percentage, he or she will attract a penalty of 2.5 per cent, DU had said.
The varsity had also said that Informatics Practices (IP) will be not be treated as an elective subject and students will face disadvantage of 2.5 per cent.
Deepika Singh, Principal, Air Force School, Subroto Park has written to CBSE Chairman and DU VC saying, "Any change in the admission procedure/rule at DU should be done with a minimum of 2 years notice enabling students to choose subjects in class XI itself to make optimal use of admission rules."
"Students of class XII, who will take the board exam in 2016, are extremely perturbed too, as they have already spent their time studying this subject, and cannot take another 'academic elective' at this stage," the letter says.
Manisha Mehta, mother of Devyani who wants to pursue Bcom at SRCC, says, "Just a week prior to the board results announcement they cannot decide to make a subject mandatory.
There should be a two-year window for implementation of such decisions so that a student enrolling in class XI can choose his subjects accordingly."
Sipi Diliani, a DU admission aspirant, who has secured 96 per cent marks, has written to HRD Minister saying the recent communication by the varsity is "untimely" and "unfair".
"My friends who opted for Informatics Practices two years ago have been in a gloomy state ever since DU issued the notification saying that the subject has been excluded from the list of Academic/Electives while it was very much in the category when we opted for it two years ago," the letter says.
DU authorities, however, said the decision has been taken after enough deliberation and discussion by a 23-member admission committee.
"The matter was discussed at length. The decision was taken after a consensus by the 23-member admission committee comprising of senior officials," DU's Dean of Students' Welfare, J M Khurana said.
He also said the clause was there earlier too but colleges used to have different eligibility criteria.
"From this year, we decided to do away with any riders imposed by colleges and adopt a uniform eligibility criteria. Hence, the subject has been made compulsory," he added.Last year too, DU's admission policy amendments had invited flak from students and parents for not treating Information Practices at par with Computer Science and Functional English at par with Core English.
The varsity, which had earlier announced a disadvantage of 2.5 per cent for the subjects, had revoked the decision after CBSE Chairman Vineet Joshi had written to VC slamming the guidelines as "unfair" and "discriminatory"
