DU introduces four year degree course

Updated on: Monday, September 24, 2012

Students at Delhi University (DU) will be introduced to a four-year Bachelor's degree programme in 2013. The university authorities have been working on it to frame a student-oriented degree course, likely to be implemented from next year for first-year students.

The new syllabus will be project-oriented and handson , offering greater flexibility of choice. Malashri Lal, dean, academic activities and projects, said, "The recent academic congress initiated by the VC, in which more than 3,000 students and parents participated, was held to get an idea of what kind of courses they are looking for, their expectations from the university, where sports and extracurricular activities stand, etc."

She further said, "In the meetings, everyone was keen to have an integrated syllabi, flexibility to opt for varied subjects, quality IT capability, project, field work and internship opportunities in every discipline. We are trying to integrate all this in order to formulate the new curriculum."

The plan for the four-year programmes involves credit points system and various exit options for students. "Students will be awarded credit points for both academics as well as extra-curricular activities. The credit system is not new as many universities in India have credit transfers including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)," informs Lal.

Students in the new scheme will have exit options. If they opt to exit after two years, it will be a diploma. After third year, it will be a general degree and an honours degree on completion of the full programme.

The final plan has to go through the academic council (AC) meeting. However, Debjani Sengupta, faculty, department of English, Indraprastha College for Women says, "We roughly know that students will be having credit points, etc. Teachers who will be teaching the course must be consulted as we have a stake in it."

While some faculty members are apprehensive about the feasibility of the new course, another section of teachers welcome the plan. As Ajay K Arora, principal of Deshbandhu College, says, "Though there is little time to develop the new course, we have a large faculty and we will manage."

DU introduces four year degree course

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