The wait for DU (Delhi University) aspirants came to a (preponed) end as the first cutoff list was released by the administration on 10^th October, Saturday. Coincidentally, the World Mental Health Day falls on the same date (as if already conspired by the DU administration). Well, things seemed to be not-so-unfair until the major blow fell on the applicants. On looking closely, it was found that the so-called dream colleges of the students released sky-rocketing cutoffs for this year. The highest bid was made by LSR (Lady Shri Ram College for Women) at 100%.

India has such an impractical education system where marks define the worth of a child, where no attention is paid to the mental health of any (yet witch hunting in the name of mental health is celebrated), and discrimination and exclusion are the sole un-written rules for running the country.

Being myself a second year student at LSR, I and my friends have been in a fix since the news. The only question that comes to our minds is: is the administration alright? However well known it is the fact that the top colleges of DU grants admission to students who score not less than a 95 percent, this year they have taken 100 steps further. LSR has released the cutoffs at 100% for B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science, Psychology and Economics, followed by a 99.5% in History and Journalism and 99% in English.

Cutoffs for SC/ST/EWS at 99%

Sadly, this in not the end. To make matters more exclusionary and elitist, the prescribed percentage for SC (Scheduled Caste), ST (Scheduled Tribe), OBC (Oppressed Backward Classes), PWD (Person with Disability) and EWS (Economically Weaker Section) didn’t budge a number, as surprisingly we have cutoffs in the range of 98-99 %.  All I want to ask is: What is the need to create false hopes when no affirmation of anyone’s future matters to you? What is the use of building glass walls when they would eventually be shattered due to mere numbers?

What is the use of building glass walls when they would eventually be shattered due to mere numbers?

According to reports, 5.63 lakh aspirants applied for the Undergraduate Courses of DU this year. 5.63 lakh hopeful students. 5,63,000 teenagers, who wanted to secure a future for themselves. Interestingly, this has been the highest number of applications ever received in the history of DU. This can be due to the following reasons: due to COVID-19, students wanting to go abroad for studies must have dropped their plans. Secondly, as not many students sat for other entrance examinations like JEE, NEET, etc must have though it better not to go to the exam centres in fear of contracting the disease. So, what did the students expect? Decent cutoffs from DU to get into good colleges for a better future. But, what did they get? 100%.

Students from all over India apply at DU for UG courses. They go through unimaginable circumstances just to get good marks for getting into Delhi University. But, is the University doing enough for students from all strata of the society? We have Dalit students, students from SC and ST communities, aspirants from economically weaker sections, and even students applying through the physically challenged section. The cutoffs are simply barring the teenagers from securing admission in the colleges of their choice.

DU cutoffs release date coincided with the World Mental Health Day

The times of Covid when the mental health of people around the world is already deteriorating, there comes DU with their cutoffs. What impact will these shooting cutoffs have on the mind of the student who had burned the midnight oil? What impact will it have on the girl who, after having helped her mother with the domestic chores, worked hard in the night to get a good percentage? What impact will it have in the kid who travelled miles just to appear for his examinations? What impact will it have on all those brilliant students who despite all odds scored a 90% in their boards, the first to do so in their village?

Knock-knock. Who’ there? DU Cutoffs. What, exclusionary practices? No, exclusionary+intimidating-paying heed to mental health implementations for all. No discrimination here.

I vividly remember my experience of getting admission into LSR last year. Administration had turned a blind eye and deaf ear to every hardship and inconvenience we all had to face in scorching heat of mid-July. To add a cherry of heartlessness to the cake of procedure, applicants were being turned down in large numbers. The denial of admission was on some of the following basis:

Student didn’t carry the admit card of examinations that happened 4 months ago (with no mention of it in the instructions);

Student doesn’t possess 8 photocopies of the same thing;

Student isn’t carrying a physical copy of Aadhaar Card/Caste Certificate/Residential address Cerificate, among others.

It was heartbreaking to look at the faces of the girls who were so enthusiastic in the morning, then left the premises with tears. Many of those rejected were the underprivileged ones, who couldn’t afford to go back down South or far East to fetch a single piece of paper which could have been easily overlooked.

With India’s so impractical education system where marks define the worth of a child, where no attention is paid to the mental health of any (yet witch hunting in the name of mental health is celebrated), and discrimination and exclusion are the sole un-written rules for running the country, I can’t think of a better knock-knock joke to sum up the present scenario around DU cutoffs:

Knock-knock. Who’ there? DU Cutoffs. What, exclusionary practices? No, exclusionary+intimidating-paying heed to mental health implementations for all. No discrimination here.

Image credits: Cover Magazine