Do the basic course to get a headstart

Students who are now making their way to various colleges and courses in Delhi University, must now make an extra effort to avoid lagging behind in class. Shaswati Das reports.

Students who are now making their way to various colleges and courses in Delhi University, must now make an extra effort to avoid lagging behind in class.

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Following the implementation of the semester system across all courses in DU, students who are already pursuing the courses feel that incumbent students must brush up on the basics of subjects they have opted for.

“It is always better to brush up on some of the basics of the subject, which had been taught in school. If a student is taking up Political Science, then it is always a good idea to go through some fundamental concepts of the subject — such as ideas pertaining to realism, post-colonialism and other concepts — in order to avoid lagging behind when college starts,” said Alokita Bhasin, who is pursuing Political Science (honours) from Delhi University (DU).

On the other hand, teachers feel that the kind of preparation that a student is required to put in before joining college differs according to the requirement of the discipline.

“The level of pre-admission work required is very subject-specific. For Economics (honours), it does not really make a difference if students brush up on pure economics topics or not,” said Saumyajit Bhattacharya, professor, Economics, Kirori Mal College.

Teachers from pure Humanities subjects feel it is better to wait for the academic session to begin before students begin preparing for these subjects, since students from diverse backgrounds opt for these subjects.

“It’s a good idea to go through certain topics, but it is not completely mandatory. It is advisable for Science and Commerce students to go through the Class 12 NCERT, History textbook. However, from a teacher’s perspective, it is always better for them to come to college without any pre-conceived notions because we teach them these concepts from the very beginning,” said Ujjaini Ray, who teaches History at Lady Sriram College.