Syllabus can now be revised every year for any course and a student will be eligible to opt for two minors instead of one as was initially proposed. This was decided in the final session of Delhi University’s Academic Council meeting in which all the courses for the newly structured four-year undergraduate course were approved after deliberations which lasted more than 12 hours on Wednesday.
About 54 courses, which make up the total syllabus on offer for the new structure from the first year to the fourth, were approved, except History and Sociology which were not put up for approval since these departments have not yet completed their syllabus.
Again, the number of dissents was an average of six, out of the 120 members of the Academic Council about 90 or so were present and voted.
“Our dissent was mostly regarding the compulsory nature of the foundation courses; we felt that many of the syllabuses in these 11 courses were too elementary for students already well versed with the subject. Another factor was that we felt it was not right to force subjects on students who didn’t want to study it, especially the languages,” said Renu Bala, AC member and one of the dissenters.
“We were apprehensive about the compulsory Science courses and accorded our dissent on the fact that the university was not able to assure us that equipment needed for blind students to learn these Science practical’s will be ready by the time college session begins,” she added.
Another dilemma, most argued, was around the lesser amount of learning that a student would get if he or she exited after two years and the excessive burden that a four-year honours student would have to bear.
“Another issue that was debated was the Political Science department preparing an entire paper on B. R Ambedkar”.
In the new scheme of major and minors, if a student chooses to do six papers on the same minor, then he or she will be eligible for an MA in the minor subject too. Proposals like decentralisation of SC/ST admission, change in admission procedure for PWD and OBC students were all approved.
The AC meeting continued till late in the night as approval of the amendments in the ordinances that are needed to change the nomenclatures of the degree to be awarded under the new structure were being debated. But there were enough indications to show that even these amendments would be passed without a major dissent.
The recommendations of the AC will be tabled before the Executive Council which will be meeting on Thursday. The approval of the EC will be the last word on the course.
