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Delhi University (DU) teachers and students, who have raised concern over the way the structure of under-graduate programme is being changed from a three-year to a four-year course, plan to protest in front of 10 Janpath, the residence of UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, on May 19.
Several political leaders, such as Sharad Yadav, P.L. Punia, Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja, have also signed a memorandum supporting this movement. A letter signed by the leaders said this move will increase the financial burden on students as well as result in victimisation of students from backward categories.
Udit Raj, a dalit leader and convenor of the Joint Action Front for Democratic Education, which includes teachers and students, agreed that this move by the University will hit students from the marginalised sections. Terming the decision arbitrary, Raj wondered what would happen if all the 600 universities in the country started formulating their own individual policies, since all of them have autonomy.
Proper examination
“Our objection is not that it should not be implemented. But it needs to be examined properly,” Raj said at a press conference here on Friday.
Teachers from DU have been questioning the process and method of implementing the new course, more than the course itself.
Assistant Professor Kedar Kumar Mandal and Associate Professor Nandini Dutta highlighted the fact that even some of the best colleges do not have the infrastructure, classrooms or adequate number of teachers for effective implementation of the new course.
The only solution, in such a situation, would be for colleges to reduce the number of students they take in (to maintain a reasonable teacher-student ratio), which beats the Government’s policy to make higher education ‘inclusive’.
Associate Professor Vijaya Venkataraman also questioned the logic of multiple exit points for students. She said that in any course, which is designed to be four-year long, a student who exits after two or three years is simply going to have patchy education, which is going to put them on the back-foot in the job market.
Mandal added that students from the marginalised sections are the most likely to drop out at two or three years with option to exit at different periods, with a certificate or degree. This will increase the existing societal gap, he said.
The teachers also raised concerns over whether the new system would place DU students at a disadvantage against students from other universities within the country.
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