With an aim to provide job-oriented programmes, the Delhi University on Monday launched six new courses, including Master of Business Administration, in the School of Open Learning (SOL). Addressing a press conference, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh that new courses have been added to the SOL curriculum after 28 years and these new courses will be job-oriented and professional curriculum-based.
"We are launching six new courses in SOL. The first course in Master of Business Administration. The second is Bachelor of Business Administration (Financial Investment Analysis), Bachelor of Management Studies, Bachelor of Arts-Economics (Hons), Bachelor of Library and Information Sciences, Masters of Library and Information Sciences," said Singh.
Except MBA, the number of seats in all five new courses is unlimited. About 20,000 seats have been reserved for MBA for which admission will be merit-based.
"For the first time in the history of DU, through DDCE some management and other professional courses at both UG and PG-level have been started. It will set a standard by providing inclusive and quality education to all," he said.
The Vice-Chancellor noted that these UG-level and PG-level courses will increase the employability of the students manifold and help them to take strategic decisions.
“These courses have been launched after the approval from the Distance Education Bureau and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE),” said Director of Campus of Open Learning Payal Mago.
During the launch, Mago gave a power-point presentation about the courses.
She said that about 5.5 lakh students take admission in SOL every year and with the addition of the new courses, this number will only increase.
"These are very important courses – BBA, MBA, which is a very prestigious course of DU, Bachelor of Management Studies. There are management courses and job-oriented courses. A lot of students are unable to get admission into Economics courses in regular mode. This is also a flagship course of Delhi University," she said.
Meanwhile, the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) called on Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit to convene an "emergency" meeting to discuss "uncertainty" in the admission to PG and PhD programs due to CUET exercise.
In a statement, the JNUTA said the crisis has occurred due to the varsity's participation in the NTA-conducted Common University Entrance Test (CUET) exercise and NTA "reneging" on the commitment to conduct CUET for PhD admissions. "JNUTA shares the anxiety and concern of the vast majority of the JNU faculty at the continuing uncertainty about the admissions to JNU's postgraduate and PhD programmes. There is still a near-total lack of clarity regarding the schedule of admissions and the fate of the academic calendar," JNUTA said in a statement.