Science students join anti-semester system brigade

New to college and the semester system, their experience with the University of Delhi has not been too good.

New to college and the semester system, their experience with the University of Delhi has not been too good.

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Some science students said they managed to learn and retain little in the academic year gone by.

“There was no time for understanding anything in the subject, let alone go into any depth. We simply collected photocopied notes from seniors and tried to memorise them. There was no time to even get to know students of other classes, leave alone think about participating in extra-curricular activities,” said Ananta Joshi, a first-year student of BSc (programme). “Our mathematics teacher fell ill in the second semester, and five different teachers tried to take her classes, but we just could not absorb anything.”

“Classes were held from 8.40am to 5pm every day without even a lunch break, after which students were expected to stay back and prepare their practical file," said Rocky Chhikara, a student at St Stephen's College.

Teachers also complained that they were not getting any time for external examinations.

“The new semester calendar has already created so many problems. The admission season is now overlapping with examinations. It will be difficult for teachers to manage,” said NK Jain, assistant professor of BSc Electronics at Zakir Hussain College.

Many students also complained of not being able to do their practicals well.

“There is just no time for us to waste on a perfect practical. The first semester was more relaxed as the exams were postponed but the second semester was very rushed. We couldn’t understand much,” said Kartika Pawar, a first-year physics student at Miranda House.