Delhi University releases draft UG curriculum framework 2022, seeks feedback

New Delhi: The Delhi University Friday released a draft Undergraduate Curriculum Framework 2022 (UGCF-2022) formulated in accordance with the National Education Policy and sought feedback from stakeholders. The Draft UGCF was criticised by a section of teachers saying that it was not discussed in the Academic Council meeting of the university.

The Draft UGCF has been uploaded on the website of the university and a link for submitting feedback through a Google form will remain active till January 31, the university said in a statement. “The Draft UGCF is being circulated among the stakeholders as well as placed on the website of the University, du.ac.in, for the purpose of seeking views from all the stakeholders with special reference to students, parents, academicians, recruiters among others, through a Google Form," it said.

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Academic Council member Mithuraaj Dhusiya said this is the fourth such template floated by the DU within this last year in order to introduce the NEP with effect from academic year 2022-23. “Each draft has varied wildly on fundamentals such as course structure. Cosmetic changes cannot hide the impending job loss. This particular draft has not even been discussed in Academic Council," he said.

Former Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) treasurer Abha Dev Habib said the Executive Council had approved a framework with 196 credits on August 31 amidst dissents. In December, the university circulated to colleges and departments two more draft FYUP frameworks of 184 and 164 credits, she said.

“This is the fourth model. While the UGC seems to be bringing guidelines for a four-year undergraduate programme of 160 credits. This shows that the very idea of a single structure leading to multiple types of certifications is so flawed that meaningful FYUP is not possible," she said.

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Habib said the latest model reduces weightage in terms of number of hours and hence, credits, dedicated towards Discipline Specific Core (DSC), Discipline Specific Electives (DSE) and Generic Elective (GE) from six (as in the current 3-year LOCF or the other models of FYUP) to four.

"This dilution is not acceptable. Any mindless change will lead to massive dilution of the importance of these key courses for students and a huge reduction of workload for teachers leading to loss of jobs," she said. She also said that as research has been made a compulsory component, it will generate project shops and "cut and paste" research at mass level.

"The current batch of 12th class students had enough of instability in terms of their crucial years getting affected by the pandemic. It will not be fair to force rushed exercises of CUCET and FYUP on them," she said. Former Academic Council member Dev Kumar said the course structure will lead to reduced workload for teachers and thereby bring in contractualisation.

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He said it will be detrimental to the teaching-learning process. Rudrashish Chakraborty, an elected member of DUTA Executive, said the structure needs to be junked along with the NEP. “The proposed UG programme tries to impose a ‘one-size-fit-all’ policy on every course offered by the University irrespective of the individual needs and customised requirements of different courses. This is academically not feasible and compromises quality and rigour of various courses," he said.