DU’s academic congress raises lot more issues

On its first day, academic congress meets to discuss the future of Delhi University and invites wrath of teachers and students.

Delhi University’s (DU) academic congress in a first-of-its-kind event brought together teachers, students, the university administration and other organisations on one platform. The congress was called to discuss the future of education as well as the university and invited many speakers, including Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister, who interacted through video conferencing. “We need to move away from rote learning and introduce new methods of teaching. Practical learning and research have to be given priority,” Pitroda said.

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The issue of the under-19 cricket world cup winning captain, Unmukt Chand, who was initially detained by the university for not meeting the required attendance norms, was brought up in the academic congress as well. “I would ideally want to introduce a system which enables our sportspersons and NCC cadets to get academic credit,” said Dinesh Singh, vice chancellor, DU.

The second day of the academic congress is supposed to see discussions around rural India, peer group learning and the school university interface.

However, members of many teachers and student organisations staged a protest outside the arts faculty, calling it an “un-academic” congress.

“It is the first time that the corporate sector and NGOs are being labelled as ‘stakeholders’ in an academic meet. These ‘reforms’ will facilitate the entry of foreign and private universities to sell higher education for highest profits in India,” said a statement issued by the Democratic Teachers’ Front.