Sibal fumes as Delhi college sets 100 per cent cut-off

The unprecedented high cut-off marks set by Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) not only left parents and students baffled but evoked strong reactions from the Union Human Resource Development Ministry on Wednesday.

“This morning I got the news that the cut-off in one college is 100 per cent. I felt very sad, especially for the parents and the children who work so hard and get 97 and 98 per cent. I want to reach out to parents and students and tell them don’t worry. We will take care of this irrationality,” Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said here.

He said that Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh informed him there was only one student in the entire list who had got 100 per cent marks in science and he may never go for commerce.

The minister was also told that the idea behind fixing the 100 per cent cut off was to exclude everybody in the science stream and not allow them an opportunity to get admission in commerce stream.

“This is completely irrational. Students should on the basis of overall merit decide on which course they want to take up,” Sibal said asking both Singh and SRCC to take note of it. He underlined the need to hasten the reforms initiated by his ministry in the education sector so that no student was denied the right to pursue careers of their choice.

The DU vice chancellor too sought to allay students’ fears, saying that four more cut-off lists were due and that they will come down “significantly”. He, however, maintained that the high-cut off was “largely” because of the high scores achieved by students in the school leaving exams.

On education sector reforms, Singh  said each college decides through its staff council and the university cannot intervene in this matter. “But now we will take a look at this because this is not a permissible situation,” he said.

Reacting to the Human Resource Development minister’s comments, SRCC principal P C Jain asked: “Why do science students have to go for commerce when they can opt for engineering? Comm­erce students are not allowed to enter IITs and medical colleges.”

Suggesting that science students should not be disappointed with the cut off marks fixed for admission to the college as they have “many more options”, Jain said he has asked students to be patient and wait for the second and third cut off lists his college will put up soon.