NEW DELHI: Amidst protest, Delhi University’s Executive Council approved the four-year undergraduate programme and the multiple entry-exit system at its meeting on Tuesday. The clearance by the university’s highest statutory body means that from the 2022-23 academic session, the DU undergraduate course will span four years instead of the current three and students can enter or exit the programme at various levels.
The Academic Council had cleared these proposals, which are part of the new National Education Policy, on August 24, also with some members recording their dissent. The committee for implementation of NEP had plumped for 2022-23 as the year to commence the new undergraduate structure.
Rajpal Singh Panwar, EC member, said, “The matter was passed with three members dissenting. We wanted the university to defer the changes until more consultations could be held. The new system wasn’t even discussed in Parliament, only approved by the central cabinet. That is why we wanted all stakeholders to discuss the matter before adopting it.”
Even as the meeting was under way, DUTA called for a social media campaign against the “anti-academic recommendations of NEP2020” that DU has gone ahead with. A statement issued by the teachers’ body said, “We condemn the fact that such a major restructuring has been bulldozed without seeking feedback from teachers through statutory bodies or allowing a threadbare discussion in the Academic Council. The fixing of 2022-23 as the year of implementation is baseless as there first needs to be detailed discussions and wider consultations on NEP 2020.”
DUTA also said FYUP and MEES would increase the cost of the undergraduate programme, while students leaving the system with fewer years of study would be treated as dropouts by the job market. “MEES will only increase attrition rate giving false sense of a degree. This is an extremely ill-prepared structure which if implemented can actually end up damaging the career progression of generations of students to come,” claimed the statement.
The MPhil programmes also ceased to exist, while the master’s programme will give students the option of one- or two-year course of study.
At the meeting, EC finally closed the sexual harassment case related to the chemistry department. It resolved that the report of the first internal complaints committee would be accepted, not those of the several subsequently constituted committees. “This means a notice will now be issued to the former department head who was accused of sexual harassment,” explained Panwar.
