A ray of hope for underprivileged girls

New Delhi: For Kritika, opting for B.Com at Delhi University’s Non-Collegiate Women Education Board (NCWEB) has been one of her best decisions as she is able to pursue interior designing besides attending lectures in the college just once a week.

“Since I was always into cultural activities, I wanted to keep on enhancing my skills. And I am proud to say that NCWEB has brought the best out of us. It gave me an opportunity not only to develop my personality, but also to enhance my skills,” Kritika said.

NCWEB, which offers two undergraduate courses, BA programme and B.Com, conducts classes only on Sundays. However, it admits only female students from Delhi and does not allow them to pursue any other full-time course.

Started in the year 1945 with only 3 students, the board today has a total of 25,000 students. “The NCWEB has surely grown over the years and is as good as any other regular college. It is becoming the first choice of female students, even with high grades, who want to pursue a profession or any professional course. It is a complete platform for students to showcase their talent in various fields,” said the NCWEB director, Anju Gupta.

While 30 per cent of girls studying in non-collegiate are either working or pursuing a professional course in the weekdays, 30 per cent of the girls come from those villages where the families have a little reserved thinking. The rest 30 to 40 per cent are either those who have not been able to get admission to a regular college, or who are from an economically-weaker section.

“The pulling factors for students to apply here are the extracurricular activities which enhances their wholesome personality along with making them employable,” Ms Gupta added. This year, NCWEB not only enrolled about 100 students who scored above 90 per cent, but even increased its centres from 13 to 25 with an addition of 5,700 more seats.

NCWEB is also providing its students with skill development courses.