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Bazinga: DU to Introduce Dharam Shiksha as an AECC Subject

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With a release of a notification on the University of Delhi’s (DU’s) website, the Examination Committee has declared that Dharam Shiksha will be added to the list of Ability Enhancement Compulsory Course (AECC) subjects.

In a surprising turn of events, The DU Vice Chancellor, has announced his plans to introduce Dharam Shiksha as a compulsory AECC subject from 2021. Currently, there are two AECC subjects, English Communications and Environmental Science (EVS), both of which are taught in the first year.
The new AECC subject, Dharam Shiksha will be based mostly on the Hindu Mythology and the Vedas, taught in either the third or the fourth semester on the discretion of the college.
Dr. Yojesh Tyagi, Vice Chancellor (VC), DU, said, “After intense discussions and deliberations on this pressing issue, we have decided that it is of utmost importance that our students learn about Hindu culture and history. We feel that studying Ramayana and Mahabharata along with other scripts will help students forge a life which is holistic. It will teach them to stay away from material sins.”
While this has been the justification given by the VC as to why there is a need for this course, the Officiating Librarian, DU, Dr. Narendra Kumar said, “Yes there is a need for this kind of a course, but there could have been inclusion of texts from all religions and cultures, given how DU is such a culture-rich University.”
The syllabus has been said to include the teachings of not just the sacred texts, but also the life lessons of many in the Indian History. This would include Biographies and Autobiographies of Swami Dayanand, Mahatma Hansraj, Swami Shraddhanand, Swami Virjanand, and many more. The Committee feels that the history and life lessons of these people is something unexplored by many college students.
The Committee has refrained from including concepts like idol worship a nd violence during the independence period so as to not harm the sentiments of any community. Rajan Kalra, a first year student of Dyal Singh Evening College, said “They want to inculcate the ideas of a moral life in college students who already live in a rebellious phase of their lives, they (college students) would directly try to oppose any moral education being taught to them, and also, it would be an additional subject which will be more of a reason for the hatred towards this decision.”

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted!

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Prabhanu Kumar Das

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Akshat Arora

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Bazinga

Bazinga: Environmental Studies No More a Compulsory Subject

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The administration of the University of Delhi (DU) has announced that the course paper on Environmental Studies (EVS) will no longer be compulsory in the syllabi for undergraduate courses.

Due to continual protests, and with the subject recording least attendance out of any class for undergraduate courses, Professor Yogesh Tyagi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi, in accordance with the Academic Council, has declared that EVS will no longer be a compulsory paper for undergraduate courses.

The changes in syllabi will be imposed from the 16th of August, 2019. A press release stated that the decision is being undertaken for the welfare of the students, in an attempt to mitigate the stress of the remaining core papers. The release also states that the administration understands the plight that the faculty of Environmental Studies may face due to this decision. However, the decision was taken by keeping in the mind the welfare of the students of the university’s undergraduate programs.

Though the varsity’s action is aimed towards making the syllabi more interesting and engaging for the students, the faculty of Environmental Studies is less than happy with the decision. Professor Vinod Thakur, from the department of EVS at Hindu College, says, “This is an absolute slap in the face. Not only is the administration using it as an excuse to lessen the number of faculty in our department as a ploy to battle budget cuts, it is also ridding the syllabi of an integral paper in a course.” Another professor from Miranda College said that it is thinly veiled propaganda by climate change deniers in the current Academic Council.

Students everywhere are celebrating the decision. Maitryee Ayyer, a B.A. (Hons.) Economics student from Daulat Ram College stated: “This decision is honestly godsend. EVS was my least favourite lecture to attend, and I struggled to meet my minimum attendance criteria each semester. I’m so happy that we’re finally rid of it.” However, not all students are behind the decision. A student from Lady Sri Ram College says, “I’m glad that the decision was introduced as a way to lessen the burden on students during exam season, but the university’s decision of taking such a drastic step to remove a paper that had been a part of the syllabus for years, and to use it as an excuse to introduce budget cuts in faculty is something I just can’t get behind.”

So far, the decision has been unanimously accepted by the student unions’ of various colleges like Hansraj, Kirori Mal, Hindu, Miranda, Ramjas etc. A union member at Kirori Mal said, ”Students have always complained about the compulsory attendance for EVS classes; now that it has been removed for good, the student union can all finally move on to more important issues.”

DU Beat tried contacting Assistant Professors Dr Chirashri Ghosh and Dr Abduul Jamil Urfy of the Department of Environmental Studies, but they were unavailable to comment.

Despite criticism, this decision shows that the University is taking measures to make its syllabi more engaging and acceptable to students.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted.

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Shreya Juyal

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Uncategorized

Why You Should Focus On The AECC Exam Too

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Burdened by the unending core syllabus, there is a sufferer bearing the brunt of our indulgence: Ability Enhancement Compulsory Course Paper.

You are probably wondering why one would need to focus on a subject that only requires effort in saying its name. For most of us, the AECC paper is a piece of cake. “It is seemingly the easiest paper,” says every Delhi University student ever. And probably it is, seeing as how the core subjects challenge your wits.

But in that sense of ease, we have presumed a certain lessened merit for the paper. Studying for the subject even once would tell you, assuming that you did so for an internal— which is assuming that you actually considered it worthy enough of your attention and precious time— the paper requires minimum effort. You have a few sheets to read and you can easily score well.

If I were to paint you this picture that AECC is important for your CV or mark sheet or for your future, I would make this a sermon. But I cannot help it because unsurprisingly yet sadly it is the truth. A paper that deals with writing letters, dialogues, and helps you learn the technicalities of language might sound very unexciting, and more often than not, the tutelage you receive for the subject will also question its seriousness, but it should not.

Having done the letters and reports in our high school days, the idea is probably revolting in a university. But the ideal question is the viability of this thought. Language today is taken for granted, unless you have to demean others based on their wrong usage of the past participle. Language, you see is based on certain rules and much as we should learn to master the rules, the important part is to learn humility. And that is possibly what AECC teaches you.

You would think that you know it all, but when you come to face it, you do know but little. How many of us, for instance knew about haptics and kinesics? I did not. And that is why we need to regard this paper as an important one. It is more than a paper when it comes to teaching you humility that comes from knowing that you know little. Language, you see is delicate and this paper is your medium to explore the intricacies.

So while you prepare for your core subjects, balance the strain with a relatively easy subject. Much as we all want it to be so, AECC is not just about letters and reports, it is about the practicality of us. Every word of information you read on the internet, would inform you in a certain way. And that is your preparation for this subject. Focus on your language skills and usage, because language can always use your effort on it.

But if I may have dissuaded you to read for this excitingly enigmatic paper, read it for the easy 9 on your mark sheet. After all, is it not the run for score, the reason, that made you read this?

Kartik Chauhan

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Campus Central

How AECC Subjects Do More Harm Than Good

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DU has made some courses compulsory under the CBCS system that are supposed to enhance your abilities. However, there are infinetely may loopholes that make them more harmful than beneficial for students.

Under the CBCS syllabus, the third point of the University of Delhi (DU)  website introduces the concept of Ability Enhancement Compulsory Courses (AECC) which are Environmental Science and English Communication/MIL Communication. (http://www.du.ac.in/du/uploads/Syllabus_2015/BAProgEnglish.pdf)

Though they are claimed to be easy courses that enhance the understanding and skills of students, there exist many loopholes that impede a student’s inclination to study these subjects.

Firstly, it is important to mention that it is in school itself that we become excited about college as we finally get to choose the subjects we want to study. However, once we are at college we come to realise that the torture isn’t over. It is hard to understand why some subjects are  compulsory on the college level when it is the stage we should be specialising in our chosen fields. It is not sensible to believe that after almost 14 years of formal education, students have not learnt how to communicate or to take care of the environment. It is an underestimation of the students and the schooling system itself.

Furthermore, the subjects claim to be essential to mould our personality into a better one. However, it is important to remember that a change in mindset canbe achieved when a child is in the earlier stages of development. It would also make sense to be taught in the primary level if it is so essential as it can be considered an early start to knowledge.

Moreover, the syllabus of the subjects is vast and specialised, not with the purpose of increasing awareness and understanding.It adds to the burden of the studies. There are formulas, complex compound names, etc that an individual can do without, and at the same timebe sensitive to his/her surroundings.

Inspite of that, it is not a pass subject. It adds in the final GPA of a student and is a reflection of the marks of the subjects that a graduate didn’t choose for herself/himself. More often than not, it brings down the percentage by a large margin This does not only affect the studies but the future prospects of the students, too. Therefore, in this world of competition, it is an added burden that doesn’t let the students reach their full potential and ends up reflecting badly on the CVs.

Heeya Khanna, an English Honours student from Miranda House, like many other students, claims that  AECC subjects are “Outdated, a wastage of time and repetition of what we had been taught in school.”

With so many students who agree with this thought, it is important that the authorities pay heed to this collective opinion to either scrap or make amends in the syllabus.

 

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Khyati Sanger
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Bazinga

Bazinga: AECC and SEC courses soon to be made Pass Subjects in Delhi University

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Coming as sheer joy for the first and second year students, the DU administration has decided to turn SEC and AECC courses into pass subjects. A minimum pass grade will be required for them, which will not be included in the overall evaluation.

After a substantial amount of deliberation, this move has been undertaken for the greater ease of the students. The administration received flak from students last year for making the AECC course which includes Environmental Studies and Communication Skills, compulsory. However, many students were disappointed when AECC scores decreased their overall SGPA.

According to Varsha Negi, a student of Ramjas College, “Many of us were really disappointed with our EVS grades. The syllabus was not only vast, but instead of increasing out SGPA, this was the subject which brought it down.” Even the administration recently agreed that by making AECC a pass course, burden on students will decrease and they can also receive sufficient information about the two subjects easily.

As far as SEC is concerned, the CBCS batch of 2018 that are currently in their second year, will be the first lot to appear for this examination. The move to make even SEC into a pass course has been taken consciously, for the same reason. Not only have the students been provided with hazy syllabi for their respective subjects, but no textbooks as such have been set by the administration. Moreover, the second year students who earlier have been studying for 5 compulsory papers, will now have to attend only 4 compulsory papers and one pass paper.

According to Mr. Dadlani, a member of the DU Examination Committee, “Now that the SEC and AECC papers have been made pass subjects, with only a minimum grade to be required, we hope to ensure that the students receive sufficient information from these subjects, while not being excessively burdened to excel in them. This will also allow the students to focus on other important papers as well.”

When asked about his opinion on this move, Atul Jain, a second year student from SRCC remarked, “This is what we’ve been wanting for, the entire time. Finally I can focus on my main papers instead of wasting excessive time on AECC and SEC papers.”

DISCLAIMER: Bazinga is our weekly column of ‘almost-real’ fake news. Enjoy it, don’t accept it!

Swareena Gurung
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