DU colleges clusters to pool resources: V-C

Delhi University (DU) plans to focus on multidisciplinary courses, ability enhancement courses, and value addition courses in the coming academic session. The university will also implement the National Education Policy (NEP) by promoting mobility between colleges and offering flexible exit points for students. Additionally, DU aims to encourage the teaching of Indian languages and will cluster colleges to share resources. The university also plans to offer more holistic training and allow students to minor in subjects unrelated to their majors.

Delhi University (DU) in the coming academic session will focus on multidisciplinary courses, ability enhancement courses, and value addition courses, officials from the varsity said on Wednesday, adding that colleges will be grouped into clusters so that they can share their resources.

(File)

With the enforcement of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 completing three years, the varsity held a press conference in which they highlighted how they have implemented the policy so far, and the university’s future course.

DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh said a lot of work has already been done to implement NEP, and the second phase — in which the varsity will focus on mobility within and outside the country, and give post-graduate students the option of picking from one-year and two-year programmes — is starting now.

Separately, dean (academic affairs) K Ratnabali, explained the NEP provision of multiple entry and exit points for a particular course, which is a key feature of the policy. “Students can collect a certificate after completing 44 credits, a diploma after completing 88 credits. Students need 132 credits for their degree certificates,” Ratnabali said.

Mobility between colleges in the country will be encouraged, said officials, adding that they are also planning on signing memorandums of understanding with institutions abroad.

Ratnabali said that several professors have been recruited to teach Indian languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, Kanadda, and Malayalam. VC Singh said, “We are encouraging the teaching of modern Indian languages. Since we teach 22 languages, it might not be possible to have 22 professors in each department, so we are going to cluster colleges so that they can club their resources.”

The same will be done for skill-enhancement courses, he said.

Officials said that they are aiming to shift focus to a more holistic training for students, in an attempt to replace rote learning. Students will also have the option of minoring in subjects which might not pertain to their chosen majors. This will encourage students to have a more multidisciplinary and holistic education, said the VC.

For instance, he said, students studying physics will be able to minor in Sanskrit and this would help them understand certain ancient texts. They will have to complete a certain number of credits in order to minor in a subject.

Ratnabali said that there are 675 multidisciplinary courses and 109 courses of skill education. The skill enhancement courses range from courses such as a beginner’s course to calligraphy, to forensic chemistry, and museums and museology.

Singh also said that the university will provide help to students from Manipur. He said, “We are ready to help in any way... If there is a need to make separate provisions for the students, we will do that.”