3-year program reinstated.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: First came the shock: when the previous UPA government swiftly and forcefully administered last year an undergraduate program in Delhi University that would take four years to complete as against the standard three years.
But, all of a sudden, a week ago, that shock became a seemingly endless nightmare for nearly 300,000 students teeming and thronging the campus for admissions to courses for the new academic year.
Many of them were left in the lurch as the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Delhi University (DU) locked horns on the controversial new course implemented last year. The regulatory body UGC directed DU to scrap the course.
After about 48-hours of high tension and drama, which also the saw the Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh mysteriously quitting the torrid scene, the previous three-year course has now been reinstated.
DU’s website Friday morning had Singh stating that, “In line with the directive of the UGC, the University has decided to roll back the FYUP (Four year University Programme). Consequently, the admission process shall be conducted under the scheme of courses that were in force in the academic session 2012-13 in all the colleges of the University of Delhi.â€
This comes as an immense relief to incoming students, especially those who have traveled from distant regions of the country.
Cecilia Singh, who spoke to The American Bazaar said, “I took the journey from my hometown in Ukhrul in Manipur via Imphal and I am staying with my sister-in law who happened to be in Delhi. I’m just waiting with bated breath for the logjam to be over. But we were afraid that the decision could either be delayed indefinitely and in that case I may have to go back to Manipur.’’
Likewise there were scores of students, many of them paying for accommodation and food, lingering on, biting their nails and watching their dreams of studying in the capital fade away.
Catherine Michael, pursuing a Ph.D. program in linguistics from DU and who also spoke to the Bazaar, said that the situation had become chaotic.
“The upper education system in India needs a sea change. The four-year–course was introduced fast and swiftly without taking into account the aims and aspirations of a wider section of the students,’’ she said.
She added that the four-year-course was modeled on the US system, but may not be the best solution for a country like India.
“In India, the student is quite geared up when he or she enters college and an extra year simply stretches the whole affair of getting a degree and eventually a job or other goals,†she said.