Teachers' body seeks clarity on subjects

Teachers from the Academic for Action and Development have written to the DU vice chancellor, asking to clear the confusion about subjects. These used to be offered as subsidiary papers, but now will be converted into a discipline-1 (major) paper in the new four-year graduation system to be implemented from this academic session.

Subsidiary subjects used to be for students taking Honours courses. For example, History (H) students can opt for subsidiary papers like Economics and Political Science.

“There is a wide ranging fear that colleges where a particular subject is taught as a subsidiary paper now will not be offered as discipline, under which admissions will take place in the four-year programme,” said AAD member Rajeev Kumar Verma in a letter dated April 20. “For example, if a college is offering Economics as a paper under BA (programme) but not as Honours subject, can this college offer Economics as DC-1? Teachers feel that it will not be offered as DC-1,” said Verma.

“Combined with the fact that there is no discipline-2 (minor) paper in the first and second semesters, there is a strong probability that teachers teaching such papers will face serious reduction in their work load. This is what many teachers are telling us,” said the letter. Teachers against the implementation of the course are asking to halt the new graduation format as they feel there are many loopholes in the present structure.

“Students start specialising after class 10. And in the new format they have to study subjects which they have left after class 10. Visually handicapped students leave Maths after class 8,” said an English teacher of Miranda House.
“The mandatory foundation course has Maths, Geography, Commerce and Science. This is utterly insensitive on the part of the administration. It seems they don’t care about its own students,” said the teacher.