Explained: What is the row between St Stephen’s College and Delhi University over admissions?

In a rare act of dissent, St Stephen’s College is at loggerheads with the Delhi University over its process for admissions to its general seats. Going against DU guidelines on holding admissions to general seats only on the basis of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), St Stephen’s College has said that it would give only 85 per cent weightage to CUET and the rest 15 per cent will be based on interviews conducted by the college for admissions across categories. The university has since communicated to the college that any admission done in violation of DU’s rules will be considered null and void. “St Stephen’s College will adopt the CUET as the eligibility criteria with 85 per cent weightage for CUET and the college’s interview for shortlisted candidates with a weightage of 15 per cent,” the prospectus for undergraduate course 2022-23 stated. What is the admission process at St Stephen’s College? St Stephen’s College falls under minority colleges of the Delhi University where 50 per cent seats are reserved for minority students. In its prospectus of undergraduate course 2022-23, the college has insisted on maintaining a 15 per cent weightage to interviews for admissions of applicants of all categories. The university, however, has directed all colleges, minority and otherwise, to conduct admissions to their general seats only on the basis of CUET. According to The Indian Express, St Stephen’s is the only college in Delhi University which has historically been supplementing the filter of cut-offs with an interview to screen and select its students from among applicants. As per the admission process mandated by St Stephen’s College, applicants have to register on the college portal as well as Delhi University’s common portal. Now with the adoption of the CUET, applicants will be required to register on the NTA portal and select DU as one of their choices, and apply to St Stephen’s College on their website. They will not require to register separately on the DU portal. St Stephen’s College conducts interviews based on three components – academic to assess “suitability for the subject chosen beyond what is indicated by marks alone”; co-curricular to assess “the potential to participate in the co-curricular activities of the college and to contribute to its total life”; general awareness and sense of values to assess “a candidate’s personal outlook, sense of values, level of awareness and motivation”. Once the interviews are concluded, the college puts up a list of selected candidates and a waiting list. What has DU said in the matter? According to The Indian Express, on 9 May, the registrar had written to the college asking them to “abide” by their decision. “With regard to your college, taking note of the fact that it is a Minority institution (for candidates belonging to Christian community), the university has decided that 50% of the open seats shall be filled solely on the basis of merit of the CUET score. However, remaining 50% seats for minority candidates shall be filled on the basis of combined merit of 85% weightage to the CUET score and 15% weightage to the interview to be conducted by St Stephen’s College,” registrar Vikas Gupta had written. “There must be a single merit list for the admission of candidates belonging to Christian community regardless of any denominations/sub-sects/sub-categories within the Christian minority community. “In view of the above, you are required to abide by the admission policy as detailed…which is applicable for admission of students in St Stephen’s College for the session 2022-23,” he had said. In a letter to St Stephen’s Principal John Varghese, varsity’s registrar Vikas Gupta on Tuesday said any admission done in violation of the admission norms will not be recognised and be treated as annulled for all purposes. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.