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Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) substitutes a nine-point memorandum to the University Grants Commission (UGC) based on suggestions provided by students. 

 

On 23rd April 2020, in a press release, ABVP revealed that it has submitted a nine-point memorandum to the UGC Expert Committee based on students’ suggestions. The party took detailed suggestions from students from various institutions of higher education in Delhi to draft the memorandum. The institutions include- Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Ambedkar University, and the Delhi Technological University, amongst others. The suggestions were taken via Google Forms regarding the issues that are being faced by the students during the COVID-19 lockdown and reached out to over 3000 students. The questions were regarding the conduct of examinations in online mode, internal assessments etc, seeking their opinions and suggestions.

The suggestions offered to the expert committee were based on the student replies to these questions. The nine points that were made are:

 

  1. The ABVP insisted upon refusal by the student community regarding the adaption of online examinations and insisted that all further decisions regarding the issue be taken after considering the stakeholders.   

 

  1. Priority is given to the examinations for final year students. These exams should be held after the lockdown is over, and not online. 

 

  1. The course content for final year students’ exams should be reduced. Only the course covered by in-class lectures should be considered. 

 

  1. The exams should be conducted at a time decided after considering the lockdowns is all states, so that outstation students can safely and comfortably travel back to their campuses. 

 

  1. Due to the fact that final year students would have to safeguard future options after the exams, priority should be given to them.   

 

  1. In case of extension of the lockdown further, examinations for 1st and 2nd-year students of Undergraduate courses and 1st-year students of Postgraduate courses be shifted to future semesters, with the number of papers being evenly distributed. 

 

  1. Online submissions should not be made compulsory. Students should be given an option for offline submissions. 

 

  1. ABVP requests that universities should relax the eligibility criteria as far as possible after deliberation with stakeholders to facilitate admissions for final year students and students joining after 12th boards. 

 

  1. Teachers and students should also be appealed to go the extra mile to complete their academic programs.  

 

Sidharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP Delhi, stated in the press release that, “The situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. These are tough times and no such decision that augments the hardships being faced by students must be taken. The recommendations that we have submitted today to the University Grants Commission’s Expert Committee have been arrived upon after detailed deliberations and discussion with students. The suggestions offered by students have been attached with the memorandum. We have rejected the idea of online examinations and we hope that any decision taken by the government will take into account the welfare of students.”

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

 

Shreya Juyal

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National Student Union of India (NSUI) released a memorandum for consideration by the Student community of India, detailing grievances and recommendations.

National Student Union of India (NSUI) released a notice containing the demands and recommendations put forward through consultation by students across India facing various hardships during the lockdown. The association has been providing students relief and essentials through its program “Ladenge aur Jeetenge during which the requests were made on the subjects of Examination, Admission & Fees, Scholarship & Fellowship, Community kitchen for students in University Hostels and Online Medium. The memorandum has been submitted to Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor D P Singh.

The press release stated, “The academic year has been disrupted due to the unprecedented national shutdown to curb the Corona pandemic. The NSUI has already stated that online examinations are likely to be discriminatory given the highly uneven access to infrastructure and connectivity. It is also inadvisable to conduct exams without completion of course work in physical class.

In light of this, the NSUI has the following demands:

 

1. All students in Year 1 and 2 should be promoted without exam. Extra classes for course work missed should be conducted after universities re-open.

2. Students in Final Year should be promoted on the basis of past performance with 10% extra marks since it’s observed that students improve their performance in final year.”

 

Many students from marginalised communities along with Postgraduate Researchers are facing great economic hardship to meet the economic burden of themselves and of their families. Many such students are first-generation University students along with several depending on other sources of livelihood like tutoring and part-time jobs to sustain themselves. The lockdown has dried up all sources of income for them along with their families. Hence it is requested that the Scholarship and Fellowship funding for the subsequent semester/2 months should be given in advance so that these students and their co-dependents have resources to sustain themselves during the lockdown. Scholarship funding for SC/ST/OBC and marginalised communities should be increased to provide some cushion to such families.

“The points and the ideas that the letter has suggested is something that I personally agree with. Even though, I am in a position of privilege where these regulations might not affect me as such. Being a student in DU for a year has made me realise that everyone does not have the access to the same resources, it is crazy to think about conducting online exams when there are internet shutdowns in this country and half the population cant even access the internet. I understand the need to conduct examinations but the importance of doing it in an inclusive manner must not be understated, Prabhanu Kumar Das”, a student at Kirori Mal College said.

“Several students across India are stuck in places with no access to food or messes. Hence it has been requested by multiple numbers of students that University Hostels start providing mess access to such students stuck in private accommodations. The most desirable solution would be that if University Hostel messes across India could provide packed food on demand to ensure minimum person-to-person contact along with deliveries undertaken by Student Organisations and Unions across the residencies of such students. Hence it is requested that the UGC immediately allows such Hostel mess facilities to undertake community kitchen at the earliest so that no student sleeps in hunger at such times of distress”, the memorandum stated.

It is also recommended that a medium be developed to upload lectures online on YouTube or other web hosting mediums where students can access them on a later date at their own easement since the quality of applications such as Zoom is very poor with lags and disturbances.

Nikhil Kamble, National Secretary of NSUI urged UGC into taking the recommendations in consideration while making its decision on the working of Universities post the pandemic. This should be followed by swift action.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Paridhi Puri.

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Lately across the country, in the absence of a notable opposition decisions of the establishment, students have taken it upon themselves to stand up to the authoritarian policies. Lately, the spur of student movements in the JNU, DU, University of Hyderabad and other campuses has also spiked up the enthusiasm in other Universities where student politics have been suspended for long for the revival of Student Politics and the demand of Student Union elections. On Thursday, students of Jamia Milia Islamia University staged a protest march and submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor Talat Ahmad demanding the restoration of the Student Union and demand of elections.

Eleven years back, the University had suspended the Student Union on the account of student leaders interfering with the administrative process of the University in 2006. The Union was disbanded after a scuffle broke out between the union president and the proctor over the former having a say in the allotment of hostel seats, which the university was not willing to agree to. Later in the year 2011, Hameed Ur Rahman, a student approached Delhi High Court for the matter. Najeeb Jung, who was the VC during that period told the court that the environment was not conducive for polls.

Recently the students have formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) with members from various students bodies’ including the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, All India Students’ Association and Jamia Students’ Forum to raise the demand for a Union. Speaking to a major national daily, students of the JAC said that they would “resort to democratic means of protest” in case the varsity does not meet the deadline of announcing a date for the polls.

However, the administration on receiving the memorandum said that the university had no objections to the formation of a students’ union but it could not give the go-ahead as the matter was sub judice. Talat Ahmad, the vice chancellor of the University who is known to be personally in favour of having a student’s union said, “When the matter is in court, I cannot take decisions that would end up in contempt of court.”

The University which has a rich past of student activism during the freedom movement remains an environment devoid of a students’ voice today.

Interestingly, Jamia has a strong union of teachers and non-teaching staff.

Image Credits: jamiajournal.com

 

Srivedant Kar

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