DU English department students protest continuous assessment; HoD denies responsibility for NEP

Delhi University students of the Department of English are continuing their sit-in protest for the third consecutive day against the implementation of Continuous Assessment (CA) under the National Education Policy (NEP).

The protest turned tense after the Head of Department (HoD), Anjana Sharma, rejected the students’ demands, reportedly calling their sit-in “outrageous”. Students alleged that the department introduced the CA system without prior notice, adding to their existing Internal Assessment (IA) workload.

Although the HoD admitted to knowing about the CA since September, the department implemented it only in the first week of November after the Autumn break, leading to a clash with the IA submission schedule.

On Monday, November 10, students sat in front of the English department for a peaceful protest. Four hours into the sit-in, the HoD expressed sympathy with the students, but “evaded any responsibility towards altering the CA process, and of changing the CA dates”.

After the HoD denied responsibility for the NEP, students blocked the department gate on November 11, refusing to move until their concerns were addressed. Officials later informed students that the HoD had taken a two-day leave, which fueled anger and frustration among the students, who then blocked the entry and exit to the department office.

Also read ‘Bitter experience’: DU’s 4th-year students face sudden rule changes, limited options, teacher shortage

DU students' demands

“The Proctor’s office had conceded to hearing the students' demands, following which an application was drafted to the HoD, " they said.

Students demanded three things – 1) cancellation of presentations scheduled for November 12, 2) acceptance of group write-ups instead of individual reports, and 3) extension of submission deadline to November 26, before classes end.

“Although the demands have been relayed to the Department through the special intervention of the Joint Proctor, no satisfactory conclusion has been reached as of yet,” students said.

According to them, Prerna Malhotra conveyed to a student that the HoD has rejected their demands due to the “outrageous” nature of their protest.

“There is IA, and now they suddenly introduced CA also, making it extremely hectic for students. We will continue the sit-in today as well,” one of the protesting students said.