New Delhi, June 12: Delhi University will from this year accept PhD and MPhil students solely on the basis of an interview, switching to an admission model that has caused turmoil on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.

M.K. Pandit, chairman of Delhi University's admission committee, today told reporters that "most of the departments" will disregard the PhD applicants' performance in the written entrance test while making the final selection.

Till last year, the university gave 85 per cent weightage to the written test and 15 per cent to the interview. Its teachers' association has described the latest move as "arbitrary" and as a blow to students from poor families.

Pandit said: "The entrance score will be a qualifier. In the interview, everybody starts at the same level... unless some departments decide to give some weightage to the entrance test."

Under a policy espoused by the higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission, an oral interview alone should decide admission to research courses but the applicant must secure 50 per cent in the entrance test to qualify for the viva voce.

Students at JNU have been agitating since their university switched to such a system in December-January.

They say that interviews tend to disadvantage poor, rural and lower-caste students, partly because of caste bias and partly because of language and fluency issues. They have been demanding that the weightage given to the interview be cut to 10 per cent.

An inquiry committee headed by a JNU professor, Abdul Nafey, has confirmed discrimination against Dalit and tribal students in oral interviews.

Pandit, however, seemed optimistic that no discrimination would occur during Delhi University admissions.

He said: "The interview panels will have representation from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and women. I hope there will be no discrimination."

Vijaya Venkataraman, a teacher association executive, said that candidates who had studied at English-medium schools tend to outperform their more talented peers from rural, vernacular-medium schools. "This is unfortunate. No discussion took place on whether the existing weightage system needed to be changed. This (adoption of a new system) is being done arbitrarily. It will hurt the economically poorer students," he said.

Delhi University departments have indicated they can together admit about 850 PhD students and 650 MPhil students this year. The university offers about 10,000 postgraduate seats. The online registration for admission to postgraduate and research courses began today and will continue till June 22.

The entrance tests will be held in the first week of July, and the interviews for PhD courses in the second week.

As the last date for online registration by undergraduate applicants drew to a close today, the university said it had received nearly 3.2 lakh applications for its 56,000 undergraduate seats.

Among the honours courses, English has attracted the highest number of applications (1.22 lakh), followed by political science (95,000), economics (91,000), history (85,000), journalism (76,000), B.Com (75,000), mathematics (72,000), chemistry (71,000) and physics (70,000). A student can apply for more than one honours subject.

Some 1.86 lakh candidates are from the Central Board of Secondary Education, followed by 16,000 from the Uttar Pradesh board and 6,500 from the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

Journalism school

Delhi University will start a Delhi School of Journalism under the faculty of social sciences. It will offer a five-year integrated master's course with the option of exiting at the end of three years with an honours degree in journalism.

Some of the university's affiliated colleges already teach diploma or honours courses in journalism.

Pandit said the integrated course would expose students to critical thinking. It will also give them the option of learning a new language such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, Bengali and Tamil so they can work as reporters in foreign countries as well as the various parts of India.

The school will admit 60 students, fresh from their Class XII boards. Admissions this year are likely to be based on the candidates' Class XII marks, while the university may conduct entrance tests from next year. The fee per semester will be Rs 60,000.