Norms for sports quota admission tweaked considerably

In order to make admission process for sports quota students more transparent, Delhi University has introduced significant changes to sports quota admission policy which will ease the process for applicants of all sports.

Primarily, the University will now conduct sport-specific fitness tests for sports quota applicants. The varsity's Sports Council decided to do away with one common fitness test for all seeks sports quota applicants, so that scrutiny becomes easier. Applicants first had to undergo a fitness test, after which they would be allowed to participate in sports trials.

With the varsity adopting sports-specific physical fitness tests, students applying for sports quota in indoor gamers like chess will breathe a sigh of relief. They will not have to face the prudence test during trails, which were mostly designed keeping outdoor sports in mind.

"We used to have a common physical fitness test for all students despite them applying for different sports. Every sport requires a different kind of physical strength. So this time, we are planning to conduct sport-specific fitness test," Anil Kumar Kalkal, director of DU's sports council said.

Until last year, sports trials were held at individual colleges where applicants sought admission. "We are in the process of allocating centres for different sports," Kalkal said.

The second important change is that instead of focusing more on certificates that sports quota applicants submits, more weightage will be given to their performance during the trials. Applicants are given marks based on their sports trial and sports certificates. Earlier, the University used to give 50 per cent weightage to sports trials and 50 per cent to certificates. Now, the admission committee will give 60 per cent weightage to trial and 40 per cent to certificates.

The varsity has nearly 50 different sports and over 2,500 sports quota seats. Last year, nearly 10,000 aspirants registered online seeking admission through sports quota.

Officials said there will be one sports admission committee to overlook trials of each sport. Under the three stages of trials, experts will give marks under the sports special fitness test, fundamental games skill and playing ability (for a particular game).

Earlier, experts used to give marks based on their scales, but now marks will be given on these three parameters approved by the sports council.

A student has to score at least 30 marks in the trials to be eligible under sports quota. However, students who have represented the country at the international level are given direct admission.