At DU's SOL, Dharmashastra & Vedas find space in BA course
Delhi University
's School of Open Learning (SOL) will study Dharmashastra and the Vedas, a collection of ancient sacred texts revered in Hinduism, as a part of their main curriculum.
The university has introduced two new Sanskrit papers — one minor and one major — that will be offered in the fourth semester to second-year undergraduate students.
The minor paper, titled Sanskrit: Dharmashastra Studies, and the major paper, titled Sanskrit: Readings from the Vedas, will be taught through Self Learning Material (SLM), a format commonly used by the School of Open Learning. Vedas comprise of four texts considered sacred — Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
These additions were among the 38 new papers approved by the university's executive council — the highest statutory decision-making body — in its meeting held last week.
The move comes under the implementation of the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework 2022 (UGCF 2022), which is aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020). These curriculum changes have been recommended by the department of distance and continuing education (SOL/COL) and will be applicable across all six semesters of undergraduate courses.
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When asked about the rationale behind including religious texts in the main curriculum of a public university, the SOL director clarified that these papers are not newly created but have been extended to SOL students from existing programmes in Delhi University. "This is in the Sanskrit curriculum and the approved syllabus of University of Delhi. We have not introduced anything specially. These papers are already running in the choice-based credit system and annual mode too," said Payal Mago, director, SOL.
Apart from the two papers, the Executive Council also approved SLMs for 36 other papers, including general electives, discipline-specific electives, value added courses (VAC), and ability enhancement courses (AECs) across various semesters and disciplines. These will expand academic options for students pursuing distance education in DU.
In another significant move, SOL has also extended some of Delhi University's popular VACs to all its undergraduate programmes. This includes courses like Sanskrit: Yoga: Philosophy and Practice and Sanskrit: Panchkosha: Holistic Development of Personality, which have seen growing interest among students in recent years.
With a total of 38 curriculum-related proposals cleared by the executive council, the changes mark a major academic expansion for the School of Open Learning aligning with the broader goals of NEP 2020.
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