For Delhi University (DU) students who wish to exit the four-year undergraduate program in the third year and subsequently pursue post-graduation, the university is planning to implement a framework to create a curriculum for two-year PG programmes.
Currently, students who complete the full four-year UG course – launched in 2022 – are required to complete the post-graduation for one year only.
The move, however, has not gone down well with a section of teachers who said it seems rushed especially when the fourth year of UG courses remains in limbo due to lack of syllabus.
In line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the draft Postgraduate Curriculum Framework 2024 will be submitted to the Academic Council meeting on December 27, taking into consideration the opinions of the Heads of Departments, Centers/Institutions and everyone. Other officers.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Mr. Prakash Singh, Director of South Campus, said, “Students who study undergraduate for four years will have to study one year for post-graduation. And if a student studies UG for three years, drops out and wants to come back and continue his studies, he will have to study PG for two years… This draft gives the universities a win-win situation for the students. will allow to create a course. – win situation.”
An item on the agenda of the AC meeting said, “It is proposed to prepare the syllabus for the two-year PG programs for the students who will drop out of the three-year UG program in the upcoming academic session 2025-26. The draft structure of the PG Syllabus 2024 will be placed for the consideration of the Academic Council. Meeting scheduled for 27 December 2024. Further details related to the implementation aspects of the framework will be worked out in due course to ensure that the PGCF 2024 is seamlessly put in place as a result of the implementation of the UGCF 2022.
Also on the agenda is a twinning degree, through which a DU student can study for a semester at a foreign higher education institution and earn credits that will count towards the final score. This was proposed by the university in the AC meeting last November but was later moved.
The agenda document mentions that a six-member educational committee will be formed to examine applications for signing the ‘Education Agreement’. Mapping (courses) will be done by this committee.”
The university, it said, “may initiate collaborative arrangements whereby students enrolled in any program offered in the departments or colleges of DU may undertake their program of study partly in India and partly at FHEI, for one semester, in compliance with the relevant UGC Rules, 2022 can”. .
Mapping of courses of DU’s degree program with FHEI with which a twinning arrangement is to be established, will be done before commencing exchange of students, the document said.
Teachers have voiced their reservations on the two-year PG format.
Richa Raj, assistant professor at Jesus and Mary College and former AC member, told The Indian Express: “So far there are no clear guidelines on what the fourth year will be like under NEP 2020, so why should the university be in this situation? Are you in a hurry to come up with a new syllabus for PG? Reforms need to be well thought out, as there is no clarity on what happens to students who exercise the opt-out option. There should be a thorough discussion on these issues.”
Maya John, DU AC member, said, “It is a bitter irony that the university is seeking approval of its UG-PG course structure in an environment of great unpreparedness, pending an audit of the performance of its four-year UG program from 2022. The proposed PG structure, allegedly a A student attempts a three- or four-year UG course, is problematic, the fourth-year course of many UG courses is yet to be approved by the Academic Council Accordingly, the complete syllabus of UG and PG courses needs to be well prepared and shared in the public domain.”
He said, ‘It is worrisome that the structure of the university’s PG course is still not clear.
“Furthermore, there is a convenient solution to another key issue – lack of adequate faculty, funds and infrastructure to support the fourth year of UG courses only with parallel streams of PG courses offered by DU departments… Overall, there is one. Authorities to consult with the UG teaching fraternity and students who are reluctantly marked who are enduring the unimaginable four-year UG programme,’ she added.
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