Ex-DU students can get digital degrees

Ex-DU students can get digital degrees

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:11.08.2020

In a big relief to ex-Delhi University students who still haven’t received their degrees, DU has started an online portal to issue digital degrees.

The university informed the high court on Monday that the students only need to register on the online portal (www.digicerti.du.ac.in) and give their details, including academic qualifications and name of their college. Once the details are verified, the digital degrees will be issued within a week, the varsity told justice Prathiba M Singh. She was hearing various petitions by 21 doctors who completed MBBS graduation in 2018 and 2019 from DU-affiliated colleges, but have not yet received their degrees on the ground that the contract with the printer had expired.

The high court directed the university that digital degrees for all the doctors who moved the court should be issued by email on or before August 13, as they wish to apply for their residency programmes in the United States and to sit in the United States Medical Licensing Examination.

The court had earlier asked DU to come up with a sample digital degree.

“The court has perused the digital degree, which has been sent by email and it is satisfied with its content. The issuance of similar digital degree certificates duly verified by two officials of the DU and digitally signed by the authorised officer of the DU would, in the court’s opinion, satisfy the purpose of the petitioners,” Justice Singh said.

The court said that the doctors can use the digital degrees for the purpose of their ECFMG applications and if the ECFMG authorities need any clarification, they may be addressed to the email IDs of DU officials Sanjeev Singh or Vinay Gupta. It also asked DU to examine if marksheets and transcripts of students can be issued digitally too and listed the matter for further hearing on September 7.

DU officials told the court that data of all the students who have graduated up till November 2019 is available with the varsity.

Times View

Covid-19 has forced changes in every aspect of our life. Technology has been an ally in our efforts to find a way out of the mess. Granting digital degree certificates is a timely move because it helps us maintain social distancing while allowing us to move ahead with our lives.