DU panel clears move to drop papers on Pakistan, China, Islam

The Academic Council on Saturday also approved the introduction of a new paper on “Sikh martyrdom” in Indian History.

Papers with references to Pakistan, China, Islam, and political violence were dropped from Delhi University’s Political Science department’s postgraduate syllabus after its top academic body on Saturday approved the proposal.

The Academic Council on Saturday also approved the introduction of a new paper on “Sikh martyrdom” in Indian History. (FILE)

The proposal, first floated and approved by the Standing Committee in June this yearaimed to strike down the papers ‘Pakistan and the World’, ‘China’s Role in the Contemporary World’, ‘Islam and International Relations’, ‘Pakistan: State and Society’ and ‘Religious Nationalism and Political Violence’.

The Academic Council on Saturday also approved the introduction of a new paper on “Sikh martyrdom” in Indian History. The course will be called Centre for Independence and Partition Studies (CIPS), and will be a part of the General Elective (GE) course.

“The objective of this course is to understand the historical context associated with the Sikh community and major historical examples of Sikh martyrdom, religious persecution and resistance against hegemonic state oppression,” the university said in a press release.

An official said the course will help understand the gaps existing in the emerging history and the “neglected socio-religious history of Sikh martyrdom”.

Further, a draft was tabled on the process to supervise dissertation, academic projects and entrepreneurship for the first batch of fourth year undergraduate students.

According to the approved guidelines, a copy of which HT has seen, “all faculty members, with or without a PhD are eligible to supervise students undertaking research, dissertations, or entrepreneurship projects.”

The university has said that an advisory committee for research (ACR) for every student shall be constituted in a prescribed manner. “A faculty member may supervise a maximum of 10 students, subject to the student-teacher ratio of the relevant programme. The research committee of the college (RCC) may decide to increase the number of students assigned to the supervisor with appropriate justification,” the guidelines mentioned.

However, some AC members expressed dissent on the decision. “The guidelines make no attempt at rationalising direct teaching hours (14/16 hours) to incorporate guidance of dissertations and academic projects even as it keeps a very high demand on the output side,” a dissent note, signed by four AC members, stated.

It also pointed out that a teacher should have a maximum load of three-four students, and that a guest faculty should be engaged in the student-teacher ratio.

The AC also approved a two-year extension to students admitted in the academic session 2016-2017 to clear backlog.

The university is also set to introduce a radio jockeying as a Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC).

“In this, students will be trained in tasks such as voice training, pronunciation, studio operation and real-time show hosting, including mock studio practice and interaction with professionals,” an official said.

Under the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) revised 2021 notification, higher education institutes can allow up to 40% of the total courses being offered in a particular programme in a semester through the SWAYAM platform. Study Webs of active-learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) is a government-backed initiative managed by the Ministry of Education and UGC, which currently hosts thousands of courses for millions of learners.

In accordance with that, an agenda item had been proposed, mentioning, “In the case of UG programmes, students be provided flexibility to earn upto 5% of the total credits through SWAYAM and MOOCs platform, as approved by the university from time to time, i.e. 5% of 176 i.e. 8 credits from the academic year 2025-26 onwards…” Massive open online course (MOOC) are short university-level courses offered online via distance learning.

However, the agenda was strongly opposed by several AC members, following which a committee was constituted.

Maya John, an AC member, said, “A committee has been constituted on the issue. I strongly disagree with this action, as it serves to gravely jeopardise the integrity and academic standards of the university’s UG and PG programmes.”