DU passes semester-based syllabi for 18 courses

NEW DELHI: In a hurried move, the Academic Council of Delhi University passed the semester-based syllabi for 18 honours courses, besides BA Programme and BCom, on Monday. It also authorised the vice-chancellor to pass the syllabi for the remaining courses before the new academic session starts in July. Though teachers termed the decision unlawful and the meeting undemocratic, the university made it clear on Monday that semesters in DU was a done deal now. 

The AC meeting, followed by the meeting of the highest decision-making body of DU - Executive Council (EC) - was convened in a hurry leaving less than 12 hours for the members to study the syllabi to be passed. This is the first time in the history of the university that meetings of three statutory bodies of the university have been convened within 24 hours. The DU registrar issued a statement after the meetings on Monday evening claiming that the AC had "approved with overwhelming majority, the semester for given undergraduate courses." What followed the statement was a list of over 50 syllabi. 

But several AC members said the meeting was not democratic. The teachers and some elected members of the AC said the V-C's plan to bifurcate the syllabi of the remaining courses to accommodate semesters is autocratic and detrimental for the university. Elected AC member Rakesh Kumar said: "The members raised a point of order on the fact that we didn't even get 24 hours to go through the agenda item. How can it be possible for the teachers to go through the syllabi overnight and approve them? We couldn't consult the teachers. These are academic matters.'' 

The elected members raised the point of order on the hurried manner in which the semester-based syllabi had been passed in the standing committee, AC and EC. The members also brought to the notice of the house the violation of the university statute 7 (1) where it is stated that the AC should have five student representatives from the undergraduate, post-graduate and research level. "This is one of the supreme bodies of the university and it has been convened in violation of the university statutes. All the stakeholders need to be represented. The high court had also asked the university to consult the students and yet we have no student representatives in the AC?'' said the elected AC member, Sheo Dutt. 

The elected members further objected to the non-uniformity in the semester-based syllabi, such as the number of papers and courses, interdisciplinary subjects and dilution of honours courses, among others, and the authorization of the vice-chancellor to exercise his emergency powers. "By this authorization, all powers of the statutory bodies, such as committee of courses, AC and EC, have been surrendered. What is appalling is that authorization to bifurcate the annual mode syllabi. For the university administration, it seems semesterisation is all about dividing the syllabi into two halves,'' said Dutt. 

Within 30 minutes of the AC meeting getting over, the EC met to approve the recommendations of the AC. The meeting passed all the recommendations of the AC, including authorization of the VC to take all necessary measures deemed fit for implementation of the semester system at the undergraduate level, including bifurcation of the annual syllabi. While the elected members of the EC presented their dissent on all the agenda items, the visitor's nominee - former health secretary Javed Choudhary - also objected to the hurried nature of passing the syllabi at the emergency AC meeting.