A sure-shot recipe for disaster

( also published at http://www.governancenow.com/news/public-reporter/du-s-4-yr-undergrad-programme-recipe-disaster )

The semesterisation could not achieve what was claimed by its implementer. The earlier vice-chancellor compromised all the features (like interdisciplinary approach, lesser burdening of students and allowing in-depth understanding of subjects etc.) in order to achieve semesterisation. As warned, the examination structure almost collapsed initially and that resulted in unreasonable distribution of marks. This invited students’ plea for transparency and reevaluation that was further crushed with a hike in reevaluation fees and implementation of another flawed approach of getting three examiners to check a single paper. And now we all know that after being unable to tackle the pressure of bi-annual semester system, the university examination wing is compelled to pass this unmanageable burden on to the college administration. The University authorities now seem to have admitted their failure in achieving the aims of semesterisation but only in misusing this to justify the timing for ‘their’ another proposal of Four-Year-Undergraduate-Program when the first batch of semester-graduates is yet to exit the colleges.

Unfortunately the only lesson that the University seems to have learnt from its recent experiment with students’ future is that they now know that the administration can implement their ideas ignoring all reasoned oppositions. The failure of teachers’ movement in opposing the semesterisation process has created two-fold problems. One, that teachers are now apprehensive in taking another such reasoned stand that led to a system that is completely non-responsive and secondly the University authorities have got unreasonably emboldened. Now there is no one who bothers to answer you and that has led to a situation where nobody is willing to ask ‘unnoticed’ questions.

Whereas the semesterisation was a bundle of mere cosmetic changes that boiled down to accepting a bi-annual examination program, this time the proposed structure is set to remodel our vision and understanding on the aims and objectives of our education system. It seems to have set to produce a generation of unskilled youth-power only fit to become salesperson and ready to get exploited in the new consumerism world. Only with this vision one can approve dilution of disciplinary subjects, wastage of one year without any value addition, disorienting a student that was oriented towards a particular discipline of choice during their school studies and introduction of eleven pre-elementary level ‘non-focused’ foundation courses. And all these are being made to swallow by a system whose infrastructure is yet to soak the impact of the sudden expansion due to the OBC reservation policy and the after-effects of an ill-prepared semester program and have started showing cracks due to the presence of an unreasonably large number of temporary-adhoc teaching and non-teaching staff members.

Do we have no option but to listen to the tickles of the time-bomb and wait for its explosion at the time of admission that is set to devastate the University leaving it probably unable to reconstruct itself in a near future? University authorities seem to have time neither to listen to these apprehensions, nor dispel them and nor are they prepared to give us time to plug the loopholes to defuse the time-bomb.

What we need is at least one more year to assess the implications of the new program and make suitable corrections before experimenting with students’ future again.

Delhi University has lost its case

(An Unfortunate Order by one of the richest Judge of Delhi High Court
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/justice-manmohan-one-of-the-richest-in-delhi-high-court_100315506.html )
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On December 6, with the beginning of the first semester examinations, the demolition of Delhi University would commence after the court order today cleared the hurdles that the teachers tried to put to save the higher education from private "kar-sewaks" of education. The government has earlier succeeded in ruining DCE by detaching it from Delhi University, it has already destroyed the culture of studies in class X by scrapping the board exam, it has also finished the urge among the students for achieving excellence in class XII by introducing grade system, it also scripted dilution of excellence of IITs by doubling its number and trying to introduce medical courses in them and has been making all out efforts to push AIIMS into a state of oblivion by finding ways to hand it over to a private player. Ironically, instead of finding ways to improve other innumerable government educational institutes and to help them in catching up with these centres of academic excellence the government, it appears, has decided to make these at par with those countless failed institutions.
It is strange that in the name of releasing pressure of studies for students the HRD ministry argues in favour of getting rid of exams in Class X and XII but advocates on the other hand, doubling the number of exams for undergraduate courses.
The apathy of Amity’s, Ansal’s, IIPM’s, Lovely’s and Sharda's will soon be over when they will have no one to compete with. All degrees will lose their values as no brand will have any shine left in it. Instances of son of a rickshaw-puller cracking IIT to break into the world of glory will be a news of past as now these institutes will have to obey Ambanis, Mittals, Manmohans, Sonias and Sibals. The queues for getting admission to the Delhi University colleges will slowly and surely be getting shortened with each passing year as very soon our established centres of all round development of students while keeping social service as its prime objective will not be able to stick to this aspect of its glory.
MR. SIBAL, YOU MAY HAVE WON BUT DELHI UNIVERSITY HAS LOST ITS CASE.

Pause, Think and Proceed

Now it is no secret. The designs are out and exposed.
(please visit http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Proscons.asp# )
What is being imposed is not the semester system, not even the method itself of its implementation but is only part of a larger design to make the Indian education system a market-friendly entity. The era of demand-driven market is over and now the market-controlled economy is out in place. Now they want to decide what should be sowed; what treatment to allow for a disease; which vaccine to make compulsory for us; what one should wear; how one should party; what one should eat and drink; what are we required to be taught and how are we going to be educated. Market controlled knowledge is what they have on their agenda. This was the reason why they never intended to entertain any discussion on the feasibility and desirability of semester system. We have wasted much of our precious time in demonizing Pental and Dinesh but the main culprits are invisible right behind them. Even the government is playing puppet to them. DUTA is left with no option but to prove and show that our system will crumble since it would be unable to bear the load of semesterisation. However it is clear that not only they know this much better than us but are in fact eagerly waiting to witness the collapse of Delhi University as they would like to start their act right after we are finished with ours. Are we creating a favourable background for them to implement their agenda?
AT TIMES I JUST FEAR THAT, IS DUTA FOLLOWING THE LINE THAT THEY WANTED US TO TOW WITHOUT KNOWING THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY FALLING INTO THEIR TRAP.
With the complete picture exposed, will it be wise on our part to let the system fail much to the pleasure of these players. We have already been forced to do enough to repel many of our future admission-seekers who would have otherwise preferred our science honours courses over several infrastructural-rich money-generating private engineering institutions. These institutions are facing very stiff competition from IITs, NITs and some well established state-run engineering colleges and much to their discomfort have recently started losing out to even DU science honours courses. The only way to reverse this recent trend is to somehow script a collapse of these institutions. Detaching DCE from DU and doubling the number of IITs are just a few of such efforts to dilute these brands. With all other ‘Kalidasas’ (out to cut the branch of a tree on which they themselves are resting) like Pental, Dinesh and their team members as well as the HRD ministry trying to ensure the failure of this University, shall we also contribute to this? Are we helping them in building up a situation favourable for initiating creation of autonomous colleges in this University?
With the collapse imminent, what I fear is that they might become successful in projecting us as the culprits of this collapse. Can we devise new methods in this extremely difficult new age? If we can surprise our opponent and put their plan upside down it will ultimately help us in making the right moves.

University with a vision

Is this the vision of our newly appointed vice-chancellor that a university is a place where teachers are engaged in forced-teaching under the threat of withholding their salary? Is this his prescription of achieving excellence in education that teachers must be penalised for not agreeing to sign a bond to relinquish their right of having a say in an academic matter that was hitherto decided by them? Did the Knowledge Commission want the teachers to stop thinking, shed any urge of having an opinion and avoid expressing their views on any academic matter? Does this country need mere teachers who help their students in scoring marks or somehow make them manage to pass out examinations? After all do we need plain tutors or we need inspiring educators. Would we like to produce thinking leaders or we require to create just copy-cats trying to earn bread and butter (also TVs, Cars and other assets)? Do we need nation builders or we just want self-servers. Should an institution be producing innovators or just course-content muggers? Does this nation require average humans with some skill sets or it requires visionaries?
Delhi University alumni have made their impression in all walks of life (i.e. film, theatre, music, art, politics, sports, thinker, writer, science, manufacturing, production and business) because it gave them the environment and opportunity to pursue their passions and also provided them the time to hold on to their interests along with their studies. Unless you acknowledge your strengths before identifying your weaknesses it is impossible to outline a roadmap for improvement.
Let us first ponder over to the question that do we need to have temples of learning or we just require money generating teaching institutions.
I have come to know that our vice chancellor is holding discussions with DUTA to find a way to come out of the impasse present in the university on the semester system. It is indeed encouraging, but unless priorities of our vice chancellor match with that of the teachers, it will be difficult for them to arrive on any agreement. For an agreement will lead to improvement but a compromise will force the undesirable ruination of this premier University.

Are we very near to the end?

Decision to discontinue with our action programme of boycotting the classroom-teaching in response to a hope generated by the court wherein a process was initiated to open a channel of dialogue with the University authority by way of affidavits and rejoinders goes on to further highlight the consistency in our argument wherein we have repeatedly been stating that we had to resort to strike only because all channels of communications between the teachers and the University has arrogantly and conspiratorially been strangulated by the university officials. Teachers are fighting just for their say in an important academic matter and with a glimpse of a possibility of even a document-led-dialogue in the courts we have shown our willingness of negotiation and in the process have asserted our commitment for resolution of the impasse created entirely by the University authorities at the cost of career of students. Now Mr. Pental, who was behaving like 'khap panchayat'? Who thoght that he can promulgate rules single-handedly even if they are in violation to the existing well established rules and procedures? Unlike the projection made by our out-gone vice chancellor it was he who had got stuck with an idea and not the debate demanding teachers. Teachers are on record having never said no to reforms. This university is not the same that it used to be a few decades ago in terms of the way that the courses are now being run, in terms of the number of courses that exists now and also in terms of course content that the records will show up by itself. Many current books listed on the reading lists for almost all the courses will testify of our willingness to change for better. Remarkably nobody had to witness our resentment to any of these countless changes and this is precisely because all these reforms were done by the teachers themselves. Despite the innumerable changes in the course structure and its contents the implementation was never an issue as these changes were led by the majority of teachers in a department through proper discussion initiated in the committee of courses. Our main grudge is that this time we were not consulted on the issue and the absence of our opinion is being misused in provokingly projecting it as our reluctance for any change. Our apprehension about the desirability and feasibility of the semester system (that has undoubtedly been proved to be better in a limited environment of smaller applicability area but is arguably impractical in a University of the size as large as Delhi University) has never been addressed to our satisfaction.
Now we are in the courts just to fight the last leg of our battle and the irrefutable argument with which we convince others, plain logic to which we stick to and the sheer honesty present in our motives will again become the reason of a favourable court verdict, scheduled on November 15, that will mark the culmination of this principled fight as we have witnessed in all our earlier struggles.

Educated men or just college pass-outs

Strike announced by the Delhi University Teachers Association was immediately followed by yet another threatening letter shot from the office of the registrar at the behest of Prof. Pental. This exhibits their callous approach towards the whole issue of semesterisation and reveals their sheer indifference while ignoring the plight of the teachers of Delhi University who have been fighting what may ultimately turn out to be their last battle for their right of being involved in any decision-making process at a place hitherto considered as ‘their’ university. This university is unique in the sense that teachers have constitutionally been provided enough democratic space that allows their involvement in all decision-making processes so much so that all decisions are owned up by them. Teachers feel pride in owning up their decisions and that makes them responsible enough to share an unblemished record of having never violated the academic calendar of Delhi University. Delhi University has never seen any academic session getting delayed due to any teachers’ strike. In this university college teachers have hitherto been involved in framing rules, observing rules, framing syllabi, students’ elections, admissions, paper setting, evaluation and reevaluations, tabulation of results and moderations wherever required. This has helped teachers in making this place one of the most sought after as viewed by the school pass-outs. Owing to this democratic format the University has witnessed countless revision of courses and contrary to the belief of Mr. Pental the teachers themselves were instrumental in almost all of them. Prof. Pental and the Registrar who seems to have little knowledge of the past traditions and practices of this great university has cheeks to remind teachers of the best traditions of this institution!
The letter mentions that due to frequent strikes the examinations are now being rescheduled. It is just absurdly curious to note that the teachers have never given a call for strike demanding rescheduling of examinations? Who asked for rescheduling of examinations? Certainly not teachers as their demand of initiation of a proper discussion on the feasibility and desirability of the proposed course structure is well publicized and has been unambiguously communicated to the authorities. Prof. Pental and his team members have been claiming throughout that teachers are participating voluntarily in teaching the semester based courses barring a miniscule counted number of self proclaimed representatives and DUTA activists. Then why was rescheduling of the examinations done? If it was demanded by the students then prior to succumbing to their demands the teachers must have been taken into confidence in order to ensure that they use this rescheduling for covering up the syllabus. The process of rescheduling of examinations could have been meaningful only if the authorities would have attended to what they have ignorantly admitted in the process that teachers are striking work in support of the cause taken up by DUTA and are not willing to give up their right of being a part of any academic decision making process.
But it is now amply clear that the intention of the university and HRD ministry combine seems to be to humiliate teachers and force them to teach (even if they do that unwillingly) a course that teachers consider as undesirable. A half-cooked and ill-conceived structure where it is not clear as to how exactly the practical examinations are to be conducted or students are to be evaluated and how internal assessment marks are to be assigned, only Prof. Pental and Mr. Registrar have the vision of getting this implemented with the active support of the HRD ministry apparently acting under some greater plan. Let me correct Mr. Registrar that this is exactly what has never been our best tradition. I will remind him that in keeping with the best traditions of this great university Prof. Pental should have had by now left this university and others should have had initiated the process of involving teachers in the course revision. How an educated lot of well meaning teachers can own up a half-baked course that has forcibly been thrown upon them? How a set of humiliated teachers after losing their dignity by signing a bond under the threat of withholding their salary is expected to perform their duty of inculcating education with values to the students? What are they suppose to teach? How the teachers after having felt insulted can inspire students?
It seems they do not want teachers to produce confident and educated men capable of taking stands and instead they just want to have mere college pass-outs at their disposal who will be willing to go to any extent to earn their bread and butter.

Mr. Pental – prove yourself a Teacher

A careful glance at the Prime Minister’s message on the teacher’s day will appear as if he is reminding our Vice-Chancellor of some etiquette and culture that was completely missing during his tenure that has already expired. I quote verbatim from our Prime Minister’s speech on the teacher’s day September 5, 2010 – “Sadly, teachers are often excluded from policy making, governance and management of our educational system as also from day-to-day instructional strategies and decision making. In our endeavour for educational reforms we must, therefore, emphasize the empowerment of teachers and that includes real opportunity for them to share policy perspectives and decision-making in pursuit of educational development and reforms. It is my belief that all teachers are creative, talented people; teachers respond remarkably when they are respected and included in the decision-making integral to their work in the classroom. They gain a sense of ownership over their work and their classrooms, when they are involved in the development of the curriculum, designing of the syllabus, making and selecting of teaching materials and in training programmes leading to their own intellectual and professional development.” ( please visit http://www.newkerala.com/news2/fullnews-35103.html for the complete message). This statement clearly reasons out the failure of B.Sc. Program courses and recently implemented B.Sc. (H) Mathematics course.

Our unwanted vice-chancellor has recently been looking for some non-academic and un-teacher-like (read shameless) excuse by finding a hitherto unused provision given in the University Acts that exists only for those stubborn and unethical users who has no prestige at stake and is willing to continue as an unwanted vice-chancellor in the absence of any extension (read - when nobody is willing to give him extension). It is high time that our Vice-chancellor wakes up from the state of selective amnesia and starts recalling even those ordinances where rights of teachers in affecting syllabus-making and decision-taking is clearly and unambiguously written. Now the only way left for him to prove that some teacher-like-quality is still left within him – is to quit from his post without any delay.

Death of Science Courses in Delhi University

(edited version of this article has been published in Mail Today 6/6/2010 edition on page 4 http://epaper.mailtoday.in/Details.aspx?boxid=5445921&id=37546&issuedate=662010 ).

We have seen it happening before our eyes when a popular course such as B.Sc. (General) was being ruined before us by the earlier Vice-Chancellor Dr. Deepak Nayyar who changed it to B.Sc. (Programme). Now we are on the verge of witnessing the same fate destined for the other Science courses. I remember, only few years ago I was present in a meeting of science teachers that was called by Prof. S.K.Tandon for imposing a structural change in all the science courses. It was vehemently opposed by the teachers led by Late Dr. Swaminathan of St. Stephens. Forcing a bio-student to study mathematics and a non-medical science student to study bio-papers compulsorily was pointed out as one of the major reason of concern and it was warned that this factor itself had a potential to compel students to stay away from joining this course. Teachers were able to resist its implementation but unfortunately the whole resistance was cunningly interpreted as an opposition with regard to Honours courses and the same structure was clandestinely imposed on the B.Sc.(General) course. All nightmares that the teachers had visualized in the meeting have come true for the course. The result is everybody to see as the cut-off percentages have dropped alarmingly only for this course and majority of colleges are now unable to fill up the seats allotted to them. However we all know that Prof. Tandon was rewarded with the post of Pro-Vice-Chancellor after that.
In the current case, our present Vice-Chancellor seems to have written his own ‘bible’ and wants everybody to follow the same without questioning its utility, importance, relevance, desirability and feasibility. He seems to have got such a fixation with interdisciplinary courses that he thinks that all those who have otherwise a very good grasp on Zoology and Botany are absolutely worthless if they have not studied undergraduate mathematics. His ‘bible’ predicts that the Semester System is so important that even if it is taught by unwilling teachers and handled by incompetent authority present in the university and the examinations, it will solve all problems gripping the Delhi University education system. He believes that just because the UK and USA have it and just because the government ‘thinks?’ it should be there, the semester system should be adopted. The fact, that his ‘bible’ conveniently ignores, is the common knowledge that there are many foreign university ready to pay huge sum of seed money as registration charges and are forcing the HRD ministry and the Government to succumb to their diktats. They are willing to open corridors in the name of establishing educational institutions and will engage themselves in luring the Indian students studying undergraduate courses in Indian universities to encourage lateral shifts to similar courses at their campus. Only they are going to be benefited immensely if our university system collapses and in the process exposes our inability to handle the inherent difficulty and unmanageable contradictions associated with the semester system in our university environment. Our university education will be dumped to a corner that will be similar to the space occupied by the government schools in primary and secondary educations. We would just become irrelevant and they just want that. Their target seems to be to hurt the enviable crowd-pulling-ability of the maddening admission-seekers’-rush of our university.
I would like simple answers to the following open queries from those who have never bothered to answer any of these questions and even shied away from a much desirable debate in the Academic Council.
· In our university system, admissions are allowed till September. And this should not be stopped since colleges must be given chance to fill their vacant seats that are left by a majority of students availing the opportunity to move into either a better college or a better course. Admissions particularly in science courses get stabilized only in September as they get a chance to move to an engineering/medical college outside our university. Can anybody let me know that in the semester system how the hell they are supposed to get prepared for the semester examinations just after getting admitted in September? In our system at least first year of science courses should be annual even if somebody is hell-bent on imposing the semester system. For this reason the semester system can be successfully and somewhat meaningfully forced only in the second and third year.
· Can they provide a list of those benefits that can be achieved only in semester system but neither in an annual system and also nor in a system of continuous evaluation of students based on weekly tests? The fact remains that a system is never good or bad in absolute sense but one will have to assess that how frequently can examinations be held in a university having same course running in fifty plus colleges with number of students counting over several tens of thousands.
· In our university system where preparations, conduct and evaluation occupy whole year of the examination department for annual exam what steps they have taken to wrap the whole process in three to four months?We all know that due to some unavoidable local problems (such as a teacher going on a long leave or appointment of a fresh teacher taking inordinately long time while trying to follow the complex process being adopted by the university) appointment of a fresh teacher invariably gets delayed by a few months. In an annual system a fresh teacher always gets a chance to complete the syllabus by engaging some extra classes but how will this be possible in a semester system?