Finally, the Delhi University has decided to do away with the Common Aptitude Test for English for admission to BA English (Honours) course, this year. The department of English conducted the test on behalf of the colleges to enroll students based on the CATE score.
However, the department has decided to discontinue the entrance test for the 2013-14 admission sessions due to the lack of interest shown by the colleges. As per sources, in the month of April, it was reported that DU might scrap the English entrance based on response from various college sources. On Thursday i.e. on May 9, 2013, this was confirmed by the head of the English department, Sumanyu Satpathy.
In a statement issued Sumanyu Satpathy has said that they have sent the letters to the colleges and also convened a meeting. A total of thirty-odd colleges had participated in the meeting. He added that they were expecting at least 22 colleges to give it in writing of their interest to be a part of the CATE. However, they received just nine colleges expressing their interest. Therefore, they had finally decided not to conduct the test this year, as it is not worth the trouble. He added that it will be a waste of labour otherwise.
The Common Aptitude Test for English (CATE) was introduced in the year 2010. In the first year, a total of 17 colleges had participated in CATE, the number had gone up to 25 in 2011, and 21 colleges in 2012, which included the participation of colleges like Hindu, Lady Shri Ram, IP, Kirori Mal and Zakir Husain (evening).
