Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Bhagini Nivedita College are directly admitting students using Class 12 marks to fill persistent seat vacancies. This shift creates a parallel admission route outside the central CUET process, sparking debate over the university's uniform policy.
Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Bhagini Nivedita College, both affiliated with the University of Delhi, have received approval to conduct admissions based on Class 12 merit. This decision marks a significant deviation from the mandatory Common University Entrance Test (CUET) system that currently governs most undergraduate admissions across the university.
Addressing Chronic Seat Vacancies
The University of Delhi Registrar, Vikas Gupta, confirmed that this permission was granted specifically to address high vacancy rates in these two off-campus institutions. Both colleges have struggled to fill their classrooms in recent academic cycles. For instance, Bhagini Nivedita College recently reported that 709 out of 985 total seats remained empty. Similarly, Aditi Mahavidyalaya faced a substantial shortfall, with nearly 600 seats left vacant in the previous year. College administrators have pointed to challenges such as their peripheral locations, limited public transport connectivity, and a lack of campus amenities as primary reasons why students often choose other institutions during the centralized counseling process.
Concerns Over Uniformity and Fairness
This move has generated pushback from various university teacher associations, including the Indian National Teachers Congress and the Academic for Action and Development Teachers’ Association. These groups argue that introducing a merit-based channel alongside the CUET-based Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) creates an unequal playing field. Critics suggest that if exceptions are made to ensure seats are filled, such policies should be applied transparently across all institutions facing similar enrollment difficulties rather than being restricted to specific colleges. These educators are now calling for a formal review of the CUET framework to determine if it is effectively meeting the needs of all affiliated colleges.
Investors and stakeholders interested in the education sector may monitor how the university manages this dual-admission approach and whether it sets a precedent for other colleges facing low enrollment numbers. The next significant development will be the impact of this policy on the actual occupancy rates at these two colleges compared to the broader trend of seat fulfillment under the standard CUET process.