According to a press release, the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) formed an open forum for ‘scrutiny of undergraduate curriculum’.
The Delhi University Students’ Union formed ‘Student’s Open Forum for Scrutiny of Under Graduate Curriculum’ (SOFSUGC) for ‘Scrutiny of Curriculum’. This move comes after the controversy over the English syllabus, which the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) opposed as leftist propaganda.
Through the open forum, the DUSU will submit its report to the Heads of Departments of English, Sociology, Political Science and History, after seeking students’ views on the syllabus. In the press release, the DUSU urges the head of departments to review and consider the committee’s suggestions. The forum is expected to submit its report by 30th July, just five days after its formation. The DUSU expects the Heads of Departments to hold a meeting of the syllabus drafting committee only after the DUSU submits its report.
DUSU President Shakti Singh said “It is important to listen to the suggestions of the students in the context of syllabus and to implement the relevant suggestions as the students are also stakeholders in the decision of the University and any decision has a direct and first effect on them. This committee will democratise the process of syllabus drafting.”
DUSU Joint Secretary Jyoti Chaudhary said, “We have already made it clear that students should not be on the losing end. If the syllabus drafting committee had adopted democratic process in the past, the students would not have suffered like this. We hope that the syllabus review committee of above mentioned departments will discuss the suggestions of the students and the false propaganda made by the left will come to an end and we students will be on track to study.”
However, students seem to be disgruntled by the move. “I think the syllabus offered to us is quite alright, and as for students we actually do not know what syllabus we actually need, so consulting the HoD is needed,” said Suman, a third-year Political Science student from Ramjas College.
“The demand to alter or change the content being studied is not only an attack on the academic right of a student but also on the core fundamentals on which a University stands. Personally, I have no confidence in the ABVP backed DUSU, therefore if a student forum is formed by DUSU, I doubt that the suggestions made by the forum will be free from bias. Moreover, I do not think it is appropriate to change or alter the syllabus which has been recommended after years of studies by eminent scholars based solely on suggestions made by a student forum,” adds Noihrit, a second-year History student at Ramjas College.
This puzzling move leaves one wondering why only four departments from the humanities and social sciences were targeted for this students’ forum. The accessibility of this forum and the details of its members are still unknown. DU Beat reached out to Sidharth Yadav, the media secretary of ABVP who remained unavailable to comment.
Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat
Jaishree Kumar
