New Delhi: Delhi University has said it is going for the implementation of the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) as “mandated” by UGC even as a section of teachers claimed that statutory bodies are being reduced to “rubberstamps” in order to enforce the directive.
“The DU Executive Council and Academic Council have approved CBCS and the university has implemented it as ‘mandated' by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
“DU is fully prepared to introduce it and will abide by the UGC guidelines in toto,” a senior varsity official said.
Ending confusion among candidates seeking admission to its undergraduate programmes, DU's Executive Council (EC) had on Thursday passed the proposal for the implementation of CBCS, thereby clearing a major legal hurdle.
Some council members, however, claimed the university was “arm twisting” them and reducing statutory bodies into being “rubber stamps” instead of taking the demands of teachers and students into account and conveying the same to HRD ministry.
“No discussion was allowed by the Vice Chancellor at the EC meeting. We were told by him that since UGC has asked us, we have to do it and the proposal was passed despite dissent from five members,” an EC member said.
“The varsity has all the right to express its disagreement to UGC, but despite over 50 colleges rejecting it and four departments refusing to draft the CBCS syllabus, DU
has not raised the issue even once with either the ministry or UGC,” the member added.
“When dissent is not taken into account, what is the point of having a statutory body—just for a rubber stamp to add legality to the proposal?” asked another EC member, who charged that “members were arm twisted into agreeing to the items on the meeting's agenda without any discussion”.
“CBCS is being implemented now in the same manner in which the Four-Year Undergraduate programme (FYUP) was rolled in. And time will show that it meets the same fate as FYUP,” he added. The members claimed that the now-defunct FYUP was approved by the EC and AC despite opposition and the same had been the case during the nod to CBCS by the Academic Council.
Following reports of approval of CBCS by the AC in January this year despite objections from council members, HRD ministry had queried the Vice Chancellor about preparations by DU for bringing in the same.
Since then DU had maintained an “undecided” stand on the issue till a letter was sent last month to all faculty heads to start preparation for rolling out CBCS and finalising the syllabi. That development, however, triggered a backlash from some EC members.
Accusing DU of implementing the programme “arbitrarily”, the critics of CBCS claimed the scheme was being brought in after bypassing the EC. DU had then asserted that if the AC and EC did not give their nod, the CBCS would not be implemented.
Saying that CBCS allows a “cafeteria approach”, UGC had in September last year asked all central universities to implement it from the ensuing academic session.
CBCS allows students ‘seamless mobility' across higher education institutions along with transfer of course credits.
The debate regarding CBCS is intensifying as a section among the academic fraternity has rejected the proposed reforms in the education system as a “crackdown on varsities' autonomy”.
