No manpower to conduct English entrance test

While 21 Delhi University colleges are busy preparing for the Common Aptitude Test for English for admissions in BA English Honours, about 25 colleges stick to the old format of deciding admissions through cut-offs. Sale of forms began on May 25.

According to teachers, manpower crunch in holding CATE exam is one of the reasons why colleges continue with the cut-off format.

“In our college, for CATE we need four members of the teaching faculty for paper correction. Exams are still going on, and there is paper correction. Then there is a lot of administrative work to be done, such as making timetables and other academic schedules. Simultaneously, one has to invigilate. Even the teachers involved in CATE are overworked,” said a professor of English from Ramjas College.

An English professor from Deen Dyal Upadhyaya College also holds a similar view, citing paucity of staff for conducting CATE.

Ramjas College used to hold an entrance exam for English. Four years back, a new rule was introduced that scrapped individual entrance exams by colleges, and CATE came into existence.

Apart from manpower crunch, competition between CATE and non-CATE colleges is another reason why all colleges don’t adopt CATE.

Deshbandhu College (morning), which was one of the 21 colleges conducting CATE, has dropped out from this admission session. According to a senior official, the move came after it was noticed that neighbouring colleges that do not conduct CATE were getting students with higher cut-offs.

“CATE is an extremely good exam, but the kind of students we were expecting through CATE did not come. Non-CATE colleges also get more students,” said the official.

Deshbandhu College had been conducting CATE for the last two years. 

Admissions to Sri Venkateswara, Gargi, Hansraj, Ram Lal Anand and Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma colleges are on cut-off basis. St Stephen’s and Jesus and Mary Convent, as minority institutions, conduct their own entrance tests for admission to various courses.CATE is scheduled to be held on June 9.