The higher education department has allowed Rabindra Bharati University to conduct online interviews for admission to some of its undergraduate courses even though all state-aided universities have been asked to screen aspirants solely on the basis of marks.
The university will hold online interviews for admission to courses in the faculty of visual arts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“An exception has been made because students cannot be selected for admission to courses in performing arts solely based on marks. An aspirant’s proficiency in the field has to be judged,” said an official of the higher education department.
A notice signed by the university’s secretary, faculty councils, says: “The online interviews for the admission to undergraduate courses under faculty of visual arts for the session 2021-2022, will be held on September 21 and 22.”
The university offers undergraduate courses in five subjects in the faculty of visual arts: applied art, painting, history of art, sculpture, and graphics-printmaking.
Vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Basu Raychaudhuri said the students who qualified in practical tests — held earlier on online platforms — would appear in online interviews, to be conducted through the university’s online examination portal. “Each department will design its interview questions...,” he said.
An official of the university said that while preparing the merit list, only 10 marks would be allotted for the aspirant’s performance in higher secondary or equivalent examination. “Since it is almost entirely based on components like practical tests and interviews, we sought permission from the department and they gave consent,” he said.
The state government in July had barred state-aided colleges and universities from conducting admission tests and interviews, apparently because of Covid-19 and the digital divide among students.
It struck down the plea of Jadavpur University for holding online interviews for admission to science courses.
Presidency University admitted students to its courses in performing arts based on Class X and XII board exams.