DU's four-year UG gets mixed reactions

With just three months remaining for the start of a new session, Delhi University is facing dissent from a section of teachers and academicians on its much-hyped four-year undergraduate programme.

Members of the task force, who formulated this structure, say it is to increase the possibility of jobs while those opposing the programme say it will only help in postponing the unemployment problem by a year. Delhi University registrar Alka Sharma said the new structure will address the needs of the job market. “We want students to start taking practical experience with studies,” she said.

Under the new structure, there will be five application papers, which will help students get practical experience of the subject they have chosen. These papers will start from the second semester.

“The application papers will prepare students according to the needs of the market. This will help in employment. Suppose a student of Hindi knows about translation and creative Hindi writing, which will prepare them for practical field,” said Virender Bhardwaj, member of the academic council and the 61-member task force.

“The extra year is not required. If they want to bring changes like application courses, they can bring it within the current three-year system itself. Teachers don’t have enough time to teach the four papers each semester, and now in the four-year structure they are going to give six papers per semester, which is absolutely inhuman,” said head of Mathematics department in St Stephen’s College Nandita