DU aspirants brace themselves for tackling CBCS

Last year, Delhi University started the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). After about a year of implementation, teachers and students across subjects point out flaws in the system.

Last year, Delhi University started the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). After about a year of implementation, teachers and students across subjects point out flaws in the system.

The biggest problem with CBCS is that individual performances are judged in reference to the peer group.(Ht file photo)

They say the new set of students who will join the university in July will face a tough time.

The CBCS was the brainchild of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The University Grants Commission (UGC) was entrusted with the responsibility of framing the syllabus and preparing guidelines.

Called popularly the ‘cafeteria system’, it was supposed to allow students to choose inter-disciplinary, intra-disciplinary courses.

The system was to allow easy mobility for students through transfer of credits, which meant a student could study one semester in one college and then pursue the course in another college in any part of the country.

But all this has remained only on paper as mobility has not taken place. Teachers say this will not be possible for a set-up like Delhi University.

Similarly, the choices of subjects under the generic elective course are limited. Generic elective course (GEC) is the inter-disciplinary course where students are required to study four of them in a year, two each in the first and second year.

“Students being allowed choices were a pre-requisite of CBCS. This has not happened in all DU colleges and it goes against the spirit of CBCS,” said Naveen Gaur, physics teacher at Dyal Singh College.

Students have to study 14 papers of the core course, four papers of GEC, eight papers of discipline specific elective (DSE), two papers each of ability enhancement course (AEC) and skill development course. Of these, in the first year a student has to study four core papers, two papers of GEC and one compulsory (AEC).

“The generic elective papers offered are not all related to the course I am doing. I do not see the point why such papers are there. These are only diluting the course. Also, it is not fair that students get their CGPA based on the performance of their class,” said Shambhavi, 1st year botany student.

The biggest problem is the grading point. Teachers say individual performances are judged in reference to the peer group. Moreover the students do not know about their performance as they are just given grades and not marks.

In the last semester in courses such as mathematics, economics, physics there was mass failure due to faulty grading.

“There is a uniform grading system that has been devised by the UGC. They have not taken into consideration that subjects have different variation. To go by this system means in some subject you have to get more than 100% to score an O grade which is the highest,” said Rajesh Jha, political science at Rajdhani College.

With inputs from Sruthi VS