Following the introduction of the Central University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate (UG) programmes, the total number of students admitted to Delhi University (DU), one of the largest Central universities in the country, has dropped by a quarter this year, with the strength of girls taking the biggest hit.
According to data accessed by The Sunday Express, DU’s enrollment figures have hit a five-year low – from 73,374 students in 2018-19 to 64,915 in 2022-23. This year, there were roughly 70,000 undergraduate seats on offer. The drop in admissions is even sharper when compared to last year — there have been 22,283 fewer enrollments, a 25.5% dip.
The data reveals that a bulk of the decrease this year is because of fewer girls seeking admission to DU – their enrollment in UG programmes dropped by 37.75%, from 54,818 in 2021 to 34,120 in 2022-23. On the other hand, male enrollment witnessed only a marginal drop of 1,585 — from 32,380 in 2021 to 30,795 this year.
Overall, this year, women made up 52.5% of the total undergraduate student strength at DU, as opposed to 62.87% in 2021-22. As a result, the proportion of male students increased from 37.13% in 2021-22 to 47.44% this session.
The 2022-23 academic session was the first time that Central universities switched to CUET from the earlier system of using Class 12 Board exam marks for admission to undergraduate programmes. Of the 9.68 lakh students who appeared for the CUET exams in 2022, there were 4.29 lakh girls and 5.38 lakh boys.
DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh told The Sunday Express that the university administration would look into the reasons for the changed composition of the DU classroom. “If such is the case, we will look into the matter and do the needful,” he said.
Sanjeev Singh, head of Delhi University Computer Centre, who was instrumental in moving the entire admission process online, said fewer admissions is a sign that CUET has helped address the problem of excess enrollment against sanctioned seats.
“Till last year, the admissions were based on cut-off marks (based on the performance of students in their Class 12 Board exams). Sometimes, for 20 seats, 250 students (with the same Class 12 marks) were admitted, which led to over-admission of students. Under CUET, admissions took place on a first-come-first-serve basis. So you cannot compare this year’s admissions data with 2021 because the process was different,” he told this newspaper.
Teachers across DU’s colleges said the drop in enrollment of girls at DU is evident in their classrooms.
Tanvir Aejaz, an associate professor in the political science department at Ramjas College, said, “During the admission process, my colleagues and I observed that after CUET, the number of girl students had gone down… In rural areas and small towns, CUET would have made it difficult for girls to attend the exam. It was quite confusing; there were different centres and multiple exams over several days, which kept getting cancelled.”
Nandita Narain, associate professor of mathematics at St. Stephen’s College, said she too noticed the changed gender composition. “In our physics department, there has been a drastic drop in the number of girls admitted through CUET. It was not at all like this before. Girls scored better in Class 12,” she said, adding that some colleges earlier used to give preference to women in their admission criteria, which was discontinued after the introduction of CUET.
The dip in total enrollment – girls and boys – was also witnessed at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), which, along with DU, received the highest number of applications for admission to UG programmes through CUET.
In BHU, 14,386 students were admitted to UG and postgraduate (PG) programmes in 2022 – 7,196 (50.02%) girls and 7,190 (49.98%) boys. In 2021, 19,880 students were admitted to the university – 9,572 girls (48.15%) and 10,308 boys (51.85%). BHU adopted CUET for admission to UG and PG programmes for 2022-23.
While the PRO of BHU did not comment, another officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “This has happened in every university this time, not just BHU. The delay in admissions might be the reason as several students may have got admission in some other college.”
Asked about the impact of CUET on admission numbers this year, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said, “AISHE report says enrollment in higher education has increased to 4.14 crore, crossing the four-crore mark for the first time, an increase of 7.5% from 2019-20 and 21% from 2014-15. Female enrollment has reached the two-crore mark, an increase of 13 lakh from 2019-20.”
He added, “Therefore, even if DU and BHU have recorded a reduced student enrollment compared to the previous year, the overall student enrollment has increased across India. The respective universities must analyse the reasons for a fall in their enrollments and take appropriate steps. This reduction in enrollments at DU and BHU could also be a temporary blip because we have just come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that might have altered student preferences. They could have joined a state university closer home because the overall enrollments this year are on a very encouraging upswing.”
The drop in admissions is even sharper when compared to last year — there have been 22,283 fewer enrollments, a 25.5% dip. (Express file photo by Praveen Khanna) 
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