DSEU removes lunch break from timetable; arranges back-to-back classes

NEW DELHI: "There is no such thing as a lunch break" — Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) has taken the popular idiom about no free lunches too seriously and removed lunch breaks from its timetable, sticking to eight hours of back-to-back classes. In a recent notification, the university, which offers skill-based courses such as B.Sc in Aesthetics and Beauty Therapy, Medical and Laboratory Sciences and BBA in Facilities and Hygiene Management, has dropped the half-hour lunch break (12:30 pm to 1 pm) from its daily timetable for students.

According to officials, "squeezing five minutes here and there" can suffice for lunch time as the students are "grown-ups". The move has sparked outrage among students, who are objecting to the change. "Earlier, we used to get a lunch break from 12:30 pm to 1 pm, which was included in the timetable. However, now the university has removed it and arranged back-to-back classes from 9 am to 5 pm without giving any reason," said a student on condition of anonymity. The student also alleged that the lunch break has been removed from the timetables of all 22 DSEU campuses in Delhi.

Asked about the move, DSEU Joint Director (Academics) Kamna Sachdeva said the lunch break has been removed because the university plans to develop a centralized timetable for all its campuses in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. She also mentioned that campuses have asked teachers to leave students five minutes early from their classes during which students can finish their lunch before the next class. "It is not required to put the half-hour lunch break in the schedule. We have asked directors of every campus to give a lunch break if their timetable slot permits. The students can be freed five minutes early from their class to have lunch, which is a sufficient time period," Sachdeva told PTI.

"The change has been introduced because we have created a centralized timetable in accordance with NEP 2020 to help students attend classes at any DSEU campus near their home. They are jittery because they don't see the lunch break in the new timetable, but they don't understand it is for their own benefit. We don't want them to stay back on campus for long," she added. She further clarified that DSEU runs classes in shifts and the first batch of students ends their classes by 1:30 pm. "These students don't require a lunch break as they can leave for home when their classes end. These are undergraduate students, not school students, who would require lunch breaks. Those students whose classes end at 1:30 pm already come after having breakfast," she added.

The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University is a collegiate public state university established in 2020. It has 22 operational campuses in Delhi, with Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena serving as the university chancellor.