Addressing the shortcomings in the learning materials, Delhi University gears up to set up a committee overseeing the review and devising a framework for SOL’s learning material.
A four-member committee consisting of the South Campus director, Campus of Open Learning director, Dean of Academic Affairs, and the head of the English department will be notified by Monday or Tuesday, the official added.
As per the PTI reports, “The committee will oversee the review of the School of Open Learning’s self-learning material and formulate guidelines for review of the preparation of study materials in the future,” says Delhi University’s South Campus Director, Shri Prakash Singh.
The decision is a response after the Academic Council presented a report of self-learning material for approval but rejected it after a council member’s attention to grammatical, factual, and plagiarism errors in the materials.
Jesus and Mary College Assistant Professor Maya John pointed out some of the errors persisting in the study materials even after the conduct of a review procedure by the School of Open Learning.
“Approximately three lakh students enrolled in the School of Open Learning use these study materials with gross factual errors. One shudders to think what these students would learn from these poor-quality study materials and what their futures would be,” John said.
The decision evokes a reminiscent reflection of the past when students led by the Krantikari Yuva protested outside the Arts Faculty of Delhi University (North Campus) in August against the University and School of Open Learning (SOL) for approving sub-standard study materials with many errors. The study materials were approved despite nine elected members of the council being against it.
The factual errors in the Political Science and Indian Politics papers had several discrepancies in both the English and Hindi versions. It encompassed inaccurate information about India gaining independence in 1945 (instead of 1947), the Indian Constitution being “formed” in 1994, and Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1967 (instead of 1964), among others.
In a response to PTI’s query on the problem, Payal Mago, Director of the School of Open Learning, responded by mentioning that the study materials undergo a review at different levels, including a final review by senior Delhi University professors.
The errors highlighted will be corrected in due course, she added.
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Featured Image Source- Hindustan Times
Dhairya Chhabra
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