
Unresolved syllabus: Teachers question Delhi University's readiness for FYUP as new academic session nears
This will be the first batch of students to enter the fourth year under the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF), a component of the National Education Policy (NEP).
However, teachers claim they are still awaiting clarity on the final syllabus, despite the proposals being approved in Executive Council meetings held on May 23 and July 12.
Several faculty members allege that due process has been sidestepped, and key decisions were made without adequate consultation. Many of the changes were passed despite formal dissent notes from teachers, further fuelling frustration.
Abha Dev Habib, associate professor at Miranda House, criticised what she called political overreach in academic matters.
'We hear that committees have been set up which are dictating terms. This is unconstitutional and is owing to excessive interference by BJP-RSS,' she alleged, accusing the university administration of disregarding academic autonomy.
Mithuraaj Dhusiya, an elected member of the Executive Council, said the university is not equipped to support the expanded curriculum. 'DU is still not prepared for the fourth year NEP-UGCF,' he said, citing shortfalls in infrastructure, budget and faculty.
Further highlighting institutional tensions, Rudrashish Chakraborty, an associate professor at Kirori Mal College, pointed to undue external influence on academic content.
'Outsiders have been pressuring departments to alter syllabi,' he said, noting that such interference had prompted the resignation of the head of the history department. 'No academic can survive here without compromising integrity.' With the clock ticking down to the start of classes, the alleged unresolved syllabus concerns cast doubts over DU's preparedness for its most significant academic transition in years.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Unaided school syllabus will be unified: Sivankutty
The syllabus of unaided schools in Kerala will be unified from next academic year, General Education V Sivankutty said in Malappuram on Monday. Commercialisation of education centered around unaided schools would not be allowed and that is the firm stance of the government, he said. 'From next year, the syllabus in unaided schools will be unified. They will not be allowed to teach their own syllabus,' he said. Mr. Sivankutty said collecting donations for first grade admission is against the norms of the National Education Policy and that unaided school managements should pay fair salaries to teachers.


Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
DU releases second cut-off list for NCWEB 2025-26 admission
The University of Delhi (DU) has released the second cut-off for admission to the BA Programme and BCom courses for the Non-collegiate Women's Education Board (NCWEB) for the academic session 2025-2026. Students interested in admission can check the displayed notification on the website: The online admission will commence on Tuesday, August 5. Comparing the top two colleges for NCWEB: Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Bhagini Nivedita College For the general category, Aditi Mahavidyalaya has slightly higher cut-offs for BA Prog (History & Political Science – 48 vs 45 for OBC. For the other course, that is Economics & Political Science, the cut-off is 52 for general and 49 for OBC. Meanwhile, more women students have secured undergraduate admissions in Delhi University (DU) than men every year since the introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) in 2022, government data shows. For the academic years 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25, DU admitted 34,010, 36,126, and 39,242 female students, respectively, compared to 30,662, 32,425, and 33,124 male students in the same years. According to data shared by the Ministry of Education in Parliament, there has been a steady increase in the number of girls taking the CUET (UG) since its launch. In 2022–23, 4.29 lakh women appeared for the test; this rose to 5.13 lakh in 2023–24 and further to 5.94 lakh in 2024–25. The data was shared by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Sukanta Majumdar, in response to a question on whether CUET had led to a drop in girl student enrolment, especially from remote areas. The Ministry maintained that CUET was introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to reduce pressure on students and create a common platform for university admissions. CUET is now accepted not just by Central Universities like DU, but also by State, Deemed, and Private Universities, with the number of participating institutions growing from 90 in the first year to 240 in the latest edition.


The Hindu
9 hours ago
- The Hindu
NEP 2020 at 5: Focus on foundational literacy welcomed, but vocational push raises equity concerns
Last week marked the completion of five years of the National Education Policy 2020. While many of its features are problematic, an important positive was that it was the first official government document that talked in some detail about the requirement of imparting the essentials of basic school education: Children should be able to read from a text and write, and should be able to perform basic arithmetic operations. This is described as Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, and the NEP 2020 not only acknowledges it but also stresses it. A budget has been earmarked for it and comes under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, although there is no tracking mechanism on whether the goals are being achieved. An example of such a scheme is the Ennum Ezhuthum programme of the Tamil Nadu government that aims to improve FLN among primary school students. The focus on FLN is significant. In the past, FLN was an expected, natural outcome of primary school education and was taken for granted. For instance, the National Literacy Mission of the Rajiv Gandhi government was focused almost exclusively on adult literacy, assuming that school education was taking care of literacy and numeracy among children. The NLM did not quite take into account the reality that students were passing out of school without basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. It was assumed that whoever went to school would have them and proposed no measure to gauge the skill in school-going children. Today, workers in factories are still unable to read written instructions. During Covid, many missed written instructions because they were unable to read and understand them. Others reach out for a calculator because they have simply not learned basic subtraction and addition. They get cheated on the interest payments on loans they have taken from lenders. FLN requires a separate agenda of its own. The government has to go on mission mode and ensure that in the next five years, all school-going children have the requisite basic literacy and numeracy. A literate society can make leaps in development, advance quickly. The means towards achieving this is not additional Board exams, such as in Classes 5 and 8, which the NEP recommends. These board exams will only lead to a surge in dropouts. Instead the assessment should be on how the respective school, district and State are performing and take corrective measures especially in teacher recruitment and training. Another positive of NEP is Early Childhood Education. This is a welcome direction it has given, but it has not been realistic on the pathway towards achieving it. The NEP talks about school complexes – primary, middle, and high schools with their own infrastructure, teachers, and other resources within a larger university-like school. But these are tough to implement. A workable policy on ECE is a must. A key area where the NEP misses the point is vocationalisation. While it would be welcome if everyone is taught a skill they learn by doing in addition to their subjects, introducing a separate vocational scheme after Class 8 will only lead to reinforcing structural inequalities. It would be inevitable that poorer, lower caste students will take more to vocationalisation. Unfortunately, the NEP advances national and common entrance exams to all college courses besides Engineering and Medicine. This would further devalue school exams and give a boost to coaching classes, while bringing down enrollment in higher education. (This article is written by Balaji Sampath, a physics and math teacher and the founder of AhaGuru. He is also a social activist and the founder of Aid India, which works on education and housing for poor communities.)