SFI Challenges UGC Draft Curriculum in Memorandum to DU Authorities

On 25th September, the Student Federation of India(SFI) submitted a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi after nationwide protests were held by them opposing the Learning Outcome-Based Curriculum Framework(LOCF) released by UGC recently.

SFI students held protests in Kerala, Himachal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, and New Delhi during the last few weeks, rejecting the LOCF and calling it a direct product of NEP 2020. The demonstration in Delhi was followed by the submission of a memorandum opposing this draft, students called it out for “posing a threat to the autonomy of institutions, the quality of education and the democratic fabric of universities.”

While the draft claims to prioritise the inclusion of Indian thinkers in their objective with the rationale that the Indian higher education system has “long been influenced by colonial structures, which have often disconnected students from the country’s rich indigenous knowledge”, the students protest for the forceful and unnecessary insertion of “Indian Knowledge Systems” in order to promote saffronisation of the syllabi as well as dilute important and relevant themes and topics in order to do so. Texts and concepts such as Ram Rajya form of governance in Commerce and dharmic perspectives on wealth and prosperity, trade ethics, and collective enterprise in Economics proposed as ‘ancient wisdom’ are called out by SFI for being selectively rooted in upper caste Hindu traditions and for sidelining diverse cultures.

Asikul, a student of Hansraj College and a member of SFI said, “The LOCF dilutes scientific rigour and rational inquiry. The framework glorifies RSS ideologies such as Savarkar while ignoring revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose, reshaping history to fit a Hindutva narrative.” Students also said that the framework is being rushed without meaningful conversations with students, teachers or other experts and proposed that universities be given the freedom to design their curriculum free of communal and religious biases and instead, give room for critical thinking and inclusivity.

Featured Image Credit: @sfiduspeaks on Instagram