In a letter and memorandum submitted to the Executive Director of the School of Open Learning on October 7, 2014, the postgraduate students of Political Science expressed their grievances regarding the teaching structure of the faculty and management. While bringing to light their problems with the faculty, they also mentioned how the lack of course material and library access were posing difficulties for them.
Through the letter, the political science students, DU SOL Students’ Union and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan demanded that they be provided with the course material immediately as they will be sitting for their exams this November. The letter states that without the course material, they cannot be expected to take exams in a month’s time. Also, they described how inefficient the teachers were, most of them inexperienced with the postgraduate teaching levels, and asked for the Faculty of Political Science or that of SOL to teach them, since the course if designed by them. Moreover, in comparison to regular university students who attend 90 lectures in a semester, SOL students only get 15, on the weekends, and yet they are expected to compete at the same levels.
They also brought to notice the issue of the SOL library, which is closed on Saturday and Sunday, the only days when SOL holds classes for them. They question as to how they are supposed to borrow course books, which are usually unavailable or in a grim condition, when the library is not open. Also, since SOL follows the annual pattern rather than the semester system, the students thus have no internal assessment and have to sit for a whole 100 marks paper, a contradiction to the 75+25 pattern of regular university students.
The letter demanded that the course material be provided immediately, and the teaching staff be improved. Also, there should be two days of classes every week and their answer scripts be checked by SOL or the department of Political Science, and requested that their results be declared in time, so that they are eligible to apply somewhere else. They requested that till the time SOL library is being renovated, they be issued library cards for the Central Library, and the new and renovated library must have multiple copies of syllabi-suggested books, in proper condition. Lastly, they requested that their grievances be addressed as soon as possible, and some amount of parity be brought between them and the regular university students, as it is they who require the support of SOL the most.
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