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10 Facts about D.U. 4
year program
From July, 2013, the undergraduate programme has shifted from a three-
year degree programme to a four-year one.
Currently, students can enroll in either an Honours program or get a general
BA/BSc/BCom degree in Arts, Science or Commerce.
According to the new programme, students now have to take up 11
mandatory foundation courses and two discipline courses, one being what
they major in.
The change impacted every college in Delhi University and 2.5 lakh students
affiliated to the Delhi University.
Teachers across colleges say they were not consulted about the new plans or
given enough time to redesign the courses.
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10 Facts about D.U. 4
year program
The change in curriculum has been championed by the Vice-Chancellor of the
D.U. , Dinesh Singh. He has said that the new structure introduces a healthy
interdisciplinary approach to education.
In December, 2013 the Academic Council of the university, sanctioned the
switch to the Four Year University Programme (FYUP). Teachers say the
meeting was called with just a three-day notice.
Now, students will have to complete 11 compulsory foundation courses in their
first two years at college.
Critics say that the current schooling system in India (the 10+2 scheme) allows
students to enter college primed to choose a specific subject or discipline.
Many professors point out that the infra-structure for D.U. needs to be
reformed before adding an extra year to the current programme.
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D.U. plans more changes
to 4-year program
At a time when Delhi University is trying to cope with the switch to the
four-year undergraduate programme, the university administration is planning
to introduce more changes to the course structure.
Each of the compulsory foundation courses in the four-year format carry 75
marks (35+40).
The emphasis of the four-year course is on activity-based learning, to
encourage analytical thinking.
Continuous evaluation of project work, class interaction, group activities
become more important than the end-of-semester examination.
More credit will be given to presentations and projects.
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D.U. plans more changes
to 4-year program
The changes, will be made only after receiving suggestions from teachers
across colleges and after seeking approval from the statutory bodies.
“While the idea sounds very good, it brings to fore the issue of standards. The
marking scheme in colleges across the university will not be the same. This
will lead to a need for giving authorities to colleges," an English teacher said.
"We had been asked by the university to have heterogeneous classes for
foundation courses. The letter came after the time-tables had been made. It
was difficult to change the time-table accordingly. So, the foundation courses
are being taught to a homogeneous group," a teacher from a South Campus
college said.
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4-year degree gets mixed
response
Delhi University's proposal to introduce four-year undergraduate course
received a mixed response from the teaching community, though most
academicians and experts agreed in principle the move would benefit students.
But many also expressed concern about the infrastructure crunch faced by
most DU colleges and felt that wider discussions must accompany the
fleshing out of the proposal.
Sanjeev Grewal, senior faculty member at St Stephen's College, said a four-
year degree would allow students to make an informed choice for
specialization, unlike the three year course.
The report of the Planning Commission states, "Government may consider
implementing the recommendations of the committee to introduce four-year
program to integrate education and skill. It should provide a variety of
choices to the students."
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4-year degree gets mixed
response
Principal of SRCC, P C Jain said, "In the extra year, students can be
gainfully engaged in courses which will boost their employability.
The vice-chancellor said that if a student wishes to go for post
graduation, the master's degree can be done in one year, which effectively
means no loss of years.
Head and dean of faculty of education, Anita Rampal, felt that current
issues should be resolved before initiating further reforms. The university can
carry out a pilot run of the four-year degree course and see how it works.
Teachers, want wider discussions and also felt that no deadline should be set
for the proposed move at this stage. Let us first discuss the feasibility of the
proposal. Unless it is debated, it is going to create confusion among students
and the academic fraternity.
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Different shades of the
program
Opposing the introduction of the four-year scheme, a section of teachers and
students have alleged that the new programme will affect students coming
from the marginalized sections of the society.
Delhi University Teacher’s Association has been protesting against this
system. They started a “Save DU” Campaign with a simple agenda that
students and parents should know what DU is going to become.
Students coming from weaker sections, especially those belonging to SC, ST
and OBC, would face difficulties in pursuing the new programme as they
would not be able to meet the expenditure of an additional year.
The classroom time has been reduced from 60 hours to 48 hours.
For the people who won’t be able to afford an extra year in college, they can
complete their four year honours degree in the next eight years.
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The Four Year Degree:
Bane or Boon
The FYUP entails two important new developments:
1. the introduction of compulsory Foundation Courses (FCs)
2. second is the option of dropping out, in the end of the second year with a
diploma and in the third year with a non-honors degree.
The FYUP does not seem to be the positive change that one envisions.
There are many legitimate concerns that this new system raises – lack of
proper infrastructure and shortage of faculty being primary issues. According
to an estimate, there are nearly 2500 vacancies in DU and the state of
infrastructure at most colleges is worrying.
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Another issue with the FYUP are the compulsory FCs(subjects) that all
students will have to study.
Although it is certain that the employ-ability of most graduates remains
alarmingly low, these courses will only add to the burden and distract them
from the pursuit of their major course as the entire first year would be majorly
devoted to these courses.
Also, as the new system is structured around the promise of increased freedom
of choice, eleven compulsory courses seem to undermine this promise.
A greater advantage would have been if the students had the choice to select
their own subjects, as then a Humanities student would not be forced to
study business/mathematics, or the other way round.
Bane or Boon
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Eleven FCs being taught in two years would invariably imply that students
would not gain in-depth knowledge of the subjects, and since the subjects are
such that the students are most likely familiar with them, in all
probability, only a repeat learning process would take place.
Since it can be safely assumed that most students at least have a general idea
about what they want to pursue as a career, this would mean only wastage of
time and resources.
A better option would have been the introduction of such courses at the school
level, where students have the time to pursue a variety of subjects.
Option of dropping out after the second and the third year is not very
beneficial.
Bane or Boon
