Min marks for CU BCom, BA may stay same as last yr’s

Kolkata: Despite the deluge of marks in HS, CBSE and ISC, colleges affiliated to Calcutta University have indicated they are likely to retain last year’s minimum marks criteria to apply for undergraduate courses in humanities and BCom. Principals, though, admitted that it will mean disappointment for a larger number of students as the cut-off is likely to be higher than last year.Other than a few private colleges, most will distribute application forms from August 10.
At Basanti Devi College, principal Indrila Guha said the decision to retain last year’s minimum criteria was prompted by her inability to convene a meeting in the present scenario. At Jaipuria College, too, the 2019 minimum criteria has been retained. Students can apply with 50% aggregate (four best subject scores), along with 45%-50% in the subject, for honours courses in Bengali, English, history and political science .
Colleges around Sealdah have also not been able to convene general body meetings as they lie in containment zones. A principal of a prominent college in the locality said the application criteria was being kept the same as last year’s since it would allow the college to select students from a larger pool.
“Traditionally, subjects like economics, philosophy, chemistry and Sanskrit don’t have too many takers in these colleges, leading to vacancies. But following the surge of applicants this year, and with many students who would have otherwise opted to study in an institute in another state staying back due to the pandemic, we expect all seats to be filled up. We will hold a governing body meeting on Friday, but a key decision, like a change in the minimum marks criteria, is unlikely since several members have expressed their inability to be present in person,” the principal said.
Lady Brabourne College principal Siuli Sarkar said the college would also refrain from tinkering with the minimum marks criteria so as to attract a large number of students. “In humanities, mobility is high as prominent colleges and universities take in students even after the Puja vacation, which leaves vacancies in a few subjects. To overcome any such problem, we want to offer the chance of application to a large section of students,” she reasoned.
Several others, including Bethune College and Vivekananda College, have decided to keep the criteria same for humanities subjects.
“Unlike science subjects, all boards had managed to conduct exams for most of the humanities subjects, which will allow us to evaluate applications on subject marks,” a college principal said.