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.