Umra Anees

A4134911011

B.Plan 3rd year (6th semester)

Batch: 2011-2015

Amity university

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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

THANK YOU!!

Umra AneesA4134911011

B.Plan 3rd year (6th

semester)