Members of DU's statutory bodies urge the university to defer the implementation of FYUP by one year.

According to several members of Delhi University’s statutory bodies, students have a right to be aware of the whole syllabi for these courses, so the university should postpone the implementation of four-year undergraduate programmes by one year. The change occurs just days before the Academic Council of DU meets on August 3 to review the first semester curricula for the four-year undergraduate programs (FYUP) based on the recently established Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF).

Four members of the Academic Council, including Ratnesh Saxena and Meghraj, as well as Aman Kumar, a member of the university court, complained in a letter to vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh that the UGCF-2022 is being implemented “without appropriate planning and vision.” The members said that the university had originally planned for two semesters at the beginning of this year but had only put the curriculum of the various departments for one semester on the agenda for the meeting on August 3.

The revised curriculum will be used beginning with the 2022–2023 school year. The UGCF-2022, as developed by a National Education Policy unit, had been accepted by the Executive Council (EC), the top decision-making body of DU, in February. Teachers from diverse institutions must participate in the “rigorous activity” of creating the syllabus in order to guarantee that future generations receive the greatest academic knowledge appropriate to the undergraduate degree they choose. The members stated in the letter that applicants for admissions “have a right to see the full syllabi” because admissions are offered for the entire course, not only for one semester.

“A piecemeal syllabi can’t serve the purpose and would create confusion among admission seeking students not only at national level but also would discourage foreign students to take admission at undergraduate level in the University of Delhi,” the letter read.

The members further emphasised that none of the 26 Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC) papers submitted by the departments of science, social science, and other arts is included in the SEC papers approved by the Standing Committee on Academic Matters. Academics at the university have said that this has given the appearance that SEC papers from other departments are not handled properly in order to appease the Department of English’s concerns.

According to the letter, “In light of the foregoing, we demand that implementation of UGCF-2022 should be delayed by at least one year and departments should be given one full year to frame the entirety of the UGCF syllabi. Additionally, SEC papers of the departments of science, social science, and the arts should also be included in SEC, and English should be retained as a choice in AEC papers.