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The Spirit of B.El.Ed Program – AIFRTE’s Stand on Cancellation of B.El.Ed by Delhi University!

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The implementation of ITEP and the elimination of other teacher training courses such as B.El.Ed courses by Delhi University without consultation is being contested by students and academics who think the program is unique in its own way and that introducing ITEP doesn’t require the elimination of other programs.

The All India Forum for Right to Education ( AIFRTE ) conducted a webinar on’ Introduction of ITEP and against the cancellation of B.El.Ed.’ on May 30, 2023 (Tuesday) at 7 pm. The discussion took place live on Zoom platform and was also broadcasted on Facebook and YouTube page of AIFRTE. The list of speakers included – Prof Krishna Kumar (Renowned educationist & Former Director, NCERT) , Prof Poonam Batra (Expert in Elementary Education & Co-creator of the framework of B.El.Ed, Prof Latika Gupta (Prof in Dept of Education, Delhi University) and Prachi Gupta (Student of B.El.Ed., DU). More than a hundred people participated in the live debate, with many actively sharing their opinions through the comments, including several B.El.Ed students and professors.

The backdrop of the discussion was the adoption of ITEP ( (Integrated Teacher Education Program) by the Delhi University Academic Council on 26th May, 2023 overruling objections raised by many elected teacher representatives, protesting students, and expert opinions.

ITEP was launched by NCTE ( National Council for Teacher Education ) under NEP 2020 scarping all the existing teacher training courses and to be adopted as the single course in the entire country. Experts have highlighted how it can weaker in terms of pedagogic training and how it is a threat to courses like  B.Ed. and B.El.Ed.

The conversation centred on the future of B.El.Ed programmes and how a systematic dismantling of prior structures and efforts to reform the education system is detrimental in many ways. It also emphasised the program’s values and how it helped the learning process.

Mr Jagmohan, the webinar’s host, began by introducing everyone. He also briefly stated how, from the commencement of NEP 2020, the main attack has been on how teachers will be prepared for it. Furthermore, it has now come down to teacher training for the same.

Prof Krishna Kumar, an experienced educationist and one of the oldest professionals to share his knowledge on the matter, opened the discussion.

At this point it is important to remember that B.El.Ed was born in struggle and has faced various struggles all along its short history of three decades. Some hurdles like the concept of elementary that was not easily digested at the time the program began. I remember how Prof Upendra Baxi steered the discussion with his great legal skills and was able to convince the council of what will the program do. Over time, it has faced various hurdles, but today we are facing a new kind of uncertainty.

– Prof Krishna Kumar

He mentions there are apprehensions on ITEP replacing courses like B.El.Ed but on the other hand there is a constant difficulty of faculty shortage. Prof Krishna Kumar states an important point the nowhere in the NEP policy it is mentioned that the ITEP will replace all the teaching courses, rather the general tone suggests that there will be multiple roots for teachers to be trained and prepared for jobs. This is not a threat to courses like B.El.Ed as it is well established and is widely accepted.

The university has underestimated the achievements and values of the program which has benefited both teachers and students. Delhi university has no dearth of colleges to start with its ITEP program, there is no point in killing one innovation to start with the other.

– Prof Krishna Kumar

Later on, He highlights the importance of the course by saying that nobody else in teacher education have the kind of theoretical command and the insights in pedagogy like the B.El.Ed graduates.

Prof Latika Gupta then recounts her own experience with how the Course presented so many new concepts and how, despite the fact that the country has changed so much, the programme has maintained its true spirit and enthusiasm throughout its duration.

This course is an existence in itself, which drives all of us together. The recent graduates and students must overcome this round of crisis. Maybe this is an opportunity to re organize and start fresh.

– Prof Latika Gupta

Several additional B.El.Ed students joined the discussion and highlighted how the degree empowered them and helped them to choose the finest ideas to share with the students. The programme serves as a model for not only imparting theoretical knowledge and training, but also building confidence and motivation to ask tough questions.

B.El.Ed has taught me how to make education more engaging and not boring, art and theatre has helped me in incorporating expression inside the classroom so that I could help my learners be more expressive and creative.

– A student who shared her experience during the webinar.

Prof Poonam Batra joined the conversation and expressed her concern about the teacher training course’s existential crises and how the elimination of such programmes might compromise children’s learning. She claims that teacher education is an easy target, and that if other higher education systems take the area, we are likely to lost the battle for our students. She recalls how well-crafted the curriculum was and how well developed its integration was, allowing for both interdisciplinary learning as well as theoretical and practical approaches of study.

The core subjects of B.El.Ed have significant contributions as it allows young students to revisit what they learnt in school and this time understand it from an epistemological viewpoint, It is about Knowledge generation and engagement.

– Prof Poonam Batra.

Another AIFRTE team member expressed his concerns about how the disintegration of the education system without consultation is an assault on the learning process, academicians, and students. He emphasises the importance of coming together to fight such acts. There is an increasing need to convey to individuals the consequences of such activities.

Mr. Jagmohan concluded the discussion by encouraging everyone to be optimistic and to participate in the struggle.

Link for full Discussion – https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1221617085188263

Read also – https://dubeat.com/?s=B.El.Ed+

Image credits – News click, Google images

Priya Agrawal

[email protected]

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Tu Jhooti Main Interviewer

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Persuasion has always been a fundamental skill set in building corporate rapport. However, just as easily, the lines of persuasion can blur into exaggeration. Is the romanticised representation of your accomplishments ethical or is it a necessary aptitude to survive against corporate homogeneity?

All’s fair in love and war.

This famous proverb, attributed to John Lyly’s Eupheus, dubiously justifies our moral transgressions. In some sense, every one of us experiences a situation resembling a battleground. The perpetual stress and restlessness over the outcome? Check. The constant side glances towards your opponents and likewise updating your strategy and standing? Check. The continuum of sleepless nights and anticipated phone calls from anxious families desperately praying for pleasant news? Unfortunately, college does not spare us the opportunity of escaping from the wrath of war. The student force is compelled to practice the tactics of war in the context of their respective careers and aspirations.

Perhaps, there is no greater battleground in college than the society elections and placement season. The stealthy rivalry consumes every student, regardless of how desperately we wish to maintain symbiotic relations. The tedious application process and the proceeding interviews determine who will continue the legacy and the golden crown of a sparking CV. However, in such an academically rigorous space, the preliminary process that constitutes these selections is eliminative rather than selective. Therefore, a huge emphasis is placed on the interview rounds. A selective verbatim is already memorised by the students appearing for these interviews.

“I am an incredibly passionate and detail-oriented individual…”

“I am a good candidate for this position because…”

“I align myself to the vision of the company and I want to…”

The use of these saturated phrases is often used to project an overenthusiastic zeal for the position. Whether the students are genuinely passionate about the position or if it is just a persuasive mechanism to imitate the idea of interest is where the art of lying takes place. Do interviewers see through this fallacy? In the United States, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA) prohibits private employers from conducting lie detector tests. Unfortunately, such a law does not exist in the Indian constitution and let us hope interviewers remain blissfully ignorant of this provision.

The interviewers are also acquainted with this verbatim. They have also developed a skill set to truly extract students who have considerable respect and passion for the position. However, a wide grey area exists where the interviewers may genuinely not have enough understanding to filter out overtly convincing students.

However, the exaggerated interests expressed by the students can be sympathised with. The rat race is an intrinsic part of the culture that dominates interview season and any opportunity to distinguish yourself is far too precious to let go of. To an experienced eye, the repeated exaggerations may appear tedious but the desperation of the students to crack an interview is far too painful to ignore.

People do tend to stretch it a bit when they are interviewing for any position or organisation. The world is so competitive right now. You go on LinkedIn and you see people doing this and doing that and you think ‘What am I doing at this moment?’ So, you want that position at any cost and in order to achieve that, you just end up selling yourself in front of the interviewer. People also do end up lying about a lot of things. I remember this individual didn’t complete an internship and they said that they were a part of that organisation for a month or two, which I think is not ethical enough considering the fact that you need to get an internship certificate for completion. Quantity nowadays is much more valuable than quality. The more and more projects you have under your CV, the more and more chances are there for getting selected for a position

-recounting her experiences of interviewing students, Himasweeta Sarma, the ex-editor-in-chief of DU Beat said

Interviews are an unusual predicament for most students. In Gen Z’s flair of self-deprecating humour, suddenly the opportunity of presenting yourself as a desirable candidate is a humongous challenge. Striking the right balance between self-doubt and arrogance is an incredibly delicate skill set to master. However, in an environment competing with the best of the best, how do you even distinguish yourself and make a difference? Your CV only plays a minimal role in the interview process because various other candidates have credible accomplishments backing up their positions. This is exactly where the idea of presenting yourself as an ideal candidate comes forward. The interview process, in a sense, is a facade of the accomplishments you employed and they are only deemed to be valuable if you present them as so. Persuasion, or glorified manipulation in certain cases, is truly an art form that needs to be mastered to dictate your success. However, in the process of persuasion, the boundaries of accuracy are blurred. Your accomplishments are heavily overestimated in the process, conveying a false sense of capability.

In our college, there is a formula most seniors preach. ‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t have experience or expertise or if you think someone deserves this more than you. Tell us why you are the superior candidate and the position is yours,’

Bhavya Nayak, a first-year student from SRCC observed.

On the flip side, the success of your accomplishments may sometimes need to be compromised. Specifically for college societies, interviewers place extremely stringent conditions that are often extremely demanding and strenuous for the candidates. Students often need to underestimate their accomplishments or blatantly disregard their leadership positions during interviews in order to falsely exhibit a commitment towards the position.

In a sense, the interview process may seem futile since the outcome is so heavily influenced by factors beyond our control. It may also raise the question of the validity of such a demanding process. Can you really determine if a candidate is capable of performing the job through a 10-minute, carefully fabricated process? However, an even greater question needs to be addressed. Does it even matter who gets the position if the work is getting done?

The quality of the recruitment process greatly determines how societies will function for the upcoming tenure. In this regard, there are greater implications that arise in terms of how the interviews are carried out. Oftentimes, there exists a wide gap between the expectations held by seniors and the actual result delivered by the newly recruited students.

Especially in societies like the Entrepreneurship Cell and the Placement Cell, they have a big recruitment process with several steps so they try to sift as much as possible. But even through that, something that depends upon college to college, crowd to crowd is that they have a mindset that they need to get more people on board than the quality of the people they are hiring. Because of this reason, the quality of work received by the placement cell, especially in my department, social media content writing, was not up to the mark,”

remarked Aayat Farooqui, a second-year student from Deshbandu College.

On the moral high ground, there are ethical considerations that need to be understood. The recruitment process is often incredibly taxing to both the student and the interviewer. Interviewers have no definite way of knowing the intentions of the interviewers. A student may appear to be enthusiastic about the position because of the spark it lends to their CV. However, the responsibility that comes with these positions are incredibly demanding and students are expected to fulfil their responsibilities in promised ways. If a student is apathetic towards the work, it derails the morale of the workplace and leads to dissatisfaction.

As Benjamin Franklin once famously stated, “Would you persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.” The romanticisation of interviews is inherently connected to this notion of persuasion. In a sense, the art of exaggerating is a requisite in surviving today’s competitiveness. However, the illusion of passion should not later become a liability to the ethos of the organisation. The balance needs to be struck. So while you’re nervously shaking for your next interview, just remember to be proud of your accomplishments and grateful for this opportunity, regardless of the outcome.

 

Image Credits: Sakshi Education

Sri Sidhvi Dindi

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The Third Act: Convenor Denies the Allegations of the Senior Members

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The third-year students of The Third Act had claimed to have faced abuse by the convenor. However, the convenor denies the allegations and claims their disorderly behaviour was the reason for their suspension.

The recent events that took place in the dramatics society of Satyawati College spurred a row of accusations. In a conversation with the convenor, the professor informed that the college has not done anything. The third-year students have made a huge issue, which was not supposed to be, and due to the ruckus they created, they had to be suspended from the society.

The professor went on to inform us that the letter that was sent to the students, talked about the indiscipline that they created. He explained that due to the news that went up one-sided, the college has asked the students for clarification on the irregularities that have occurred in the dramatics society. The college has asked both the students and the convenor to respond to the same.

The chats that have taken place between the students, as claimed by the professor, has addressed the professor in a disrespectful manner by using only his first name. The professor also asserted that nobody has done anything with them. Just a disciplinary action has been taken against the third-years.

The students have claimed that they have been tortured and what not but nothing of that sort ever happened. Rather, there are chats where they have been completely disrespectful towards the teacher (me). 

-Convenor, The Third Act

Further, the professor has informed us that The Third Act page on Instagram is being run by a pass-out student, Nikhil Pandey. The admin was changed a few days ago after the fiasco erupted. Moreover, according to the professor, the letter-head that the students are using is not the correct one. The name ‘The Third Act’ is also not verified by the council yet, though the name was given by the convenor and a few other teachers in 2014-15. Before that, the name was ‘Sarang Natya Samiti.’ Back then, as claimed, the professors were new appointees and were not aware that the name must be verified by the council. Now the students are using a letter-head that is not verified by the college and it also consists of a contact of a student who is not even in the society.

The third-years are also claiming that they are being suspended from the college and they would be barred from sitting for the exams. However, as the convenor claimed, they have been suspended from the society only and nothing else.

According to the convenor, the cybercrime that the third years are claiming is not from the professor’s tenure. All of this came to light only after the students were suspended. When the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) came to the convenor, it was signed by the students. The professor explained to them then that whatever they are doing might result in criminal offences and in the future, they should not indulge in anything of this sort.

As claimed by the convenor, the students tried to physically assault a second-year student. The convenor was an eye-witness, along with other two teachers. After the incident, they lodged a formal complaint.

I decided to suspend the students, which is my constitutional right as the students went against the disciplinary rules. Also, this suspension does not jeopardize their career, they have been simply suspended from the society. 

-Convenor, The Third Act

The professor went on to explain about the Rs. 8000 that has been taken from the college. He said that if the amount belongs to the college, even if any crime has taken place, it must be returned to the college. It is a government fund and it needs to be returned, no matter what.

The professor also claimed that irregularities in the bills have been found. The society went on to get clearance for a bill in Bihar in the accounts section without the prior knowledge of the convenor. They also went on for a competition in Chandigarh without informing the teachers. Moreover, claims of bills of November 2022 have been manipulated and are being shown in 2023. The convenor also claimed that there was a bill of Rs.7385 (approx.) of Muzaffarpur which is apparently a fraud. The bill is of a shop that belongs to one of the students. According to him, the advance bill settlement application is dated 23 March 2023 and 24 March 2023 but the bill submitted by the students is also dated 23 March 2023, which made the authorities raise an eyebrow. He also said that the students had gotten money sanctioned for the costumes and since those costumes belong to the college, they are supposed to be in the college to which negligence was shown.

Given the situation that the students were going to go in five days and I thought of doing something that would not be harmful for the students so I defunct the entire society. I did not even bother about the bills and finances initially but when they start misbehaving, I asked for the bills and then the irregularities in finances were realized.

-Convenor, the Third Act

Moreover, according to him the students issued MOU with the president’s signature, that too a scanned copy which is wrong and is supposed to be signed only by higher authorities. All in all, he claimed that the irregularities in the funds of the society made by the students are being highlighted because of their own actions. The college called the senior members on 4 May 2023 for clarifications on the matter. However, according to the convenor, the students did not come. Professor informed us that the students would be sent another notice in regard to the same.

Read Also: The Third Act Seniors Accuse the Convenor, Students Deny the Allegations

Featured Image Credits: satyawati.du.ac.in

Ankita Baidya

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Campus Central

‘No event without Police NOC’: DU Releases New Guidelines for College Fests

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In response to the recent events at IPCW, DU released new rules for the conduction of forthcoming fests and events by colleges.

On Monday, April 17, Delhi University’s advisory committee outlined certain suggestions for the subsequent conduction of fests and events in the university. According to DU officials, the new guidelines were framed by the proctor’s office in consultation with the Delhi Police, following the unfortunate incident that occurred during the annual cultural fest of Indraprastha College for Women on March 28. Men were seen entering college by scaling the boundary walls and allegedly molested students attending the fest.

According to DU proctor, Prof. Rajni Abbi, the college officials would be in charge of conducting events and they should exercise due diligence while planning such programmes. The rules suggested carefully evaluating the venue’s capacity in proportion to the anticipated number of participants.

“Information on the capacity of the various venues should be mapped and the total number of participants allowed should be in accordance with the available space. Keeping in mind the number of their own students, teachers and staff members present at the event, the number of outside registrations should be kept below the venue’s capacity” -DU proctor, Prof. Rajni Abbi

Guidelines stated that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the police would be necessary for holding events that permit outsiders’ entry. Similarly, prior to the conduction of any event, colleges will mandatorily have to hold a “proper Advance Security Liasoning (ASL) meeting” with all the concerned stakeholders. These include the police, the electricity department, college representatives, college security and the event management company. The suggestions also call for the institutions to expand their security infrastructure. Authorities must install concertina wires to stop miscreants from scaling the college’s boundary wall if it is low. The recommendations call for several gates equipped with operational CCTVs and public announcement systems. The police department has also asked colleges to hire door frame metal detectors to ensure the safety of attendees.

Sagar Singh Kalsi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) claimed that the police were taking a number of steps to maintain a safe campus atmosphere.

“We applaud Delhi University for its recent actions. We are devoted to keeping the community a place of peace and harmony. Additionally, we are setting up cyber training and self-defence seminars across colleges.” – Sagar Singh Kalsi, Deputy Commissioner of Police

 

Read also: The Invasion of IPCW: A Student’s Account – DU Beat – Delhi University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Featured Image Credits: Anshika for DU Beat

 Manvi Goel

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Arts & Culture

Of Loneliness and Heartbreak

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This June, remember to hold onto your anger and pain as you set out to celebrate your pride. Pride was, never a celebration alone to begin with. It was and will always, remain a fierce riot.

When I joined DU Beat, I was a lost correspondent with too many opinions on Netflix and zero knowledge about graphics ideation. But one thing I knew for sure was that I wished to write stories rooted in my immediate cultural experiences. Stories about people. Stories about students. Stories about queerness.

I never viewed queerness as something that was associated with a sexual identity but rather as something that served as a deviation from a set norm. Queering of narratives, discourses, readings and even something like non-linear documentation of time always interested me. As a marginal figure in my most immediate circles while growing up, I felt the need to understand and by extension empathise with anything that occupied a position of marginality around us.

Ever since I stepped foot into DU, I realised that there are hardly any places more queer than those afforded by educational spaces – where marginal social identities offset hundreds of students from the larger crowd of normal adherence. And such varsity spaces become intersectional convergence points for glorious bonhomie – and sometimes sites of extreme cruelty. Taking pride in visiblising intersectional identities in university spaces like ours are more often than not the share of a privileged few – their economic and social position allowing them affordances most are denied. The same identity that becomes the pride of a select few – comes at a cost for others. For most people of such social minority identities, making common knowledge of your lower caste identity comes at the cost of having your narrative being baited by upper caste saviours, your gender identity becomes a double edged sword in your path of progress and your sexuality a constant site of speculation and amusement for those around you.

But amidst the pride colours, pride watchlists and other glittery extravaganza is the overlooked loneliness of growing up queer. To survive a childhood of conflict with your truest point of self-identification, knowing that perhaps the biggest truth about you will always be held as a questioned truth by those around you and eventually coming to a city this big and finding yourself lost amidst a sea of unknown faces – each presenting to you hierarchies of power previously unknown to you. You are immediately swept into a whirlwind of heterosexual college romances, and your heart yearns for that singular same-sex romance that you only see in your annual token queer Netflix romantic comedy and before you know it you have set sail on the flood-prone waves of the hookup culture. Eventually your life is a string of making your way from one bed to another, from looking for ‘spots’ and asking for ‘places’.

But every year in June, corporations and allies around you urge you to forget this language of heartbreak and make you drown in their definition of a glitzy celebration of queerness. To all those queer souls lost this Pride month – to you I say, remember Pride began as a protest, a riot to be precise. Take the anger in your heart and hold onto it – for being queer comes at great pain of surviving a staunchly heterosexual society. To all the allies planning your next pride march, make sure to administer a consensual hug to the next queer you meet this month – queerness is a struggle with loneliness and for all your good intent some loneliness of the self that will take this community an entire life to overcome.

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

 

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DUB Speak

A Flawed Education System: A Two-Fold Discussion

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The transition from school to college is more of a time of change than any other, but some things end up staying the same.

When looking at someone who is just leaving school and another someone who is already in college, the difference in age might just be a year, but the difference in the hopes, dreams, and everything else in between looks like one that might exist between two widely different people. Your classmates from school would rarely know this confident, pumped-up, college version of you, but the one thing that they would relate to are your ever-lasting rants, more importantly, your rants on our never-changing education system.

In conversation with Trisha Saxena, a 12th grader pursuing commerce without maths, and Rubani Sandhu, a first-year student from LSR, we find places where these two conversations converge at a single point and places where the conversations could not be farther away— a proper representation of your school-to-college transition, if you will.

Even though a lot of us go into college expecting it to be more freeing than school— that new sense of being an adult, of being away from home, and of being free with your own ideas and thoughts, none of us are really able to actually fathom the intensity if the difference that is brought into our lives with this transition. Being not so much about the academics and the non-academics, the college makes you want to crawl back to school sometimes, for school was so free of so much of this burden of responsibilities. But school can also never be what college is— that one place where you can be anything (yes, college is Zootopia).

 

Indian Education: Practical education?

The one question that strikes a chord, regardless of what you are studying and where you are studying— how practical is Indian education? There are some things that continue to haunt you for the rest of your life, and frankly, this is one of them.

“I see my batchmates struggling with integration, differentiation, calculus and not all of them want to be mathematicians.  I studied maths up until 10th grade and I can promise you I am never going to use Pythagoras Theorem in my real life. Why do we have to calculate square roots by hand when everyone has a calculator in the real world? If you want to teach us something, teach us about our finances, teach us real life skills— how to cook, how to open a bank account— things that will help us in the long run,” Trisha continues, speaking out for every kid who barely passed in maths, calculating useless stuff we could have very easily found out answers to using a calculator.

“I mean I sympathise with the fact that school makes us study a lot of things and frankly, a lot of subjects that might just turn out to be useless, but that is one area where college gets better. You get a choice. The education might still be largely impractical and rote-learning might still be the building block of every course syllabus, but atleast you get a choice in what you end up learning (even if it ratta).” says Rubani, giving her perspective on the college life.

College does end up giving us a lot of autonomy, in terms of it literally being about the subjects WE want to talk about (lord help the BAP kids studying non-discipline courses against their will), but wasn’t that what classes 11th and 12th offered us too? How much of a difference did it make? We just found new subjects to hate, and new classes to bunk, because at the end of the day, it is only the book we are going to be following, so what’s the point?

 

CUET and NEP— can they make things different?

“Atleast the government is taking some kind of initiative with CUET and NEP… But this is also a two-sided sword. A lot of my batchmates, including me, are now thinking that when we have to give CUET to get into colleges, then why do even have to give boards? What is the point? Why not just bunk the boards and spend our time preparing for CUET?” continues Trisha.

On the other hand, Rubani gives her opinion, “I think yes, it is not going to make a very drastic change in the way education takes place in India, but it is a step towards creating a single platform for all the students to be judged upon, regardless of their backgrounds or their boards. Obviously, this means that there is going to be a change in the way admissions take place in colleges and I think that is going to make a significant difference,”

Two very different perspectives, but both of them perspectives that are not ill-placed. Maybe CUET and NEP are a step in the right direction, maybe it all going to fall on our faces, but isn’t it too early to call the end result, placing bets when the coin hasn’t even been tossed yet? 

 

Is the Indian education system flawed?

“On a scale of 1 to 10? A solid 8.79… there is an immense focus on memorising and the teachers don’t want us to go beyond the scope of the NCERT. In all the boards in India, there are some key points that the examiners want and if you do not write them, you won’t get marks. But what if I have understood the concept and I just don’t remember that one big fancy word that you use in your textbook, does that mean I am dumb?” says Trisha.

“I don’t think the answer to this question really changes when we move from school to college. The education was and is flawed, and there is no way around that. However, much we try to incorporate projects and assignments, all of them still end up falling in that same narrow scope and we are still shunned for asking questions that might stretch beyond the prescribed reading,” adds Rubani.

So, does it really make a change— that move from school to college? College does give us a lot of practical skills, it does make us learn things like budgeting and saving, that we wouldn’t have learnt before, but then this isn’t a feat of the education system. We might be blaming the education system for more than what is due, but isn’t education that one place where we expected things to be different? Isn’t education the place where we are supposed to be free to ask questions in? Isn’t education that one thing that is supposed to uplift us and allow us to become better than becoming a shackle in our leg and a leash on our throat?

 

Manasvi Kadian

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Netflix and Nap: A Tempestuous Allure

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It’s tempting to fall into unhealthy habits, but a balanced lifestyle is the key to a vibrant college life.

One enters college with an abundance of excitement, hope, and the most fun of them all, freedom. While this freedom provides opportunities for growth, it also brings with it a sense of carelessness. When you’re no longer answerable to Mom, you let loose. In most college students, this leads to the rise of some unhealthy habits. Being able to stay in bed and Zomato all the time may seem like a dream come true at first, but it inevitably invites problems.

However, that is not the only factor that could lead to the development of an unhealthy lifestyle. It’s also easy to feel so drowned in assignments, society work, or internships that there’s no room left for exercise or any hobbies for that matter. After a hectic college day, there is nothing more inviting than your bed. With an episode of your current binge and some pizza on the side. This becomes a routine that’s hard to break out of.

“The appeal of the taste of fast food is not the only thing that has kept me in the habit of ordering in almost every night. It’s also very convenient to not have to prep or cook meals. It feels like a quick fix after a long day.” -Vansh, a second-year student

Moreover, “broke college student” is a famous phrase for a reason. When short on budget, cooking the same instant ramen pack a few different ways to get through the week is appealing. Thus, many factors contribute to the rise of unhealthy eating habits among college students. Another major problem is that of little to no exercise. It’s difficult to make time for a routine. The norm of going late to bed and having to wake up early for morning classes keeps one in the cycle of feeling tired throughout the day. Pulling all-nighters consistently and then drinking tons of coffee to survive, skipping meals, and not exercising are therefore common elements of a college student’s lifestyle. The allure of it all is heavy. But this lifestyle is unfortunately not sustainable. How do we beat it?

It’s important to start at the fundamental level and correct your basics. Build your day around a healthy sleep schedule, eat at the right time, and start incorporating at least some exercise throughout the week. As cliché as this might sound, your elders are correct. Doing this will significantly improve your quality of life and help you focus better on your goals. You don’t need some rigid instruction table to help you achieve all of this. Start slow and be soft with yourself. It’s also okay to maintain some flexibility. You do not need to cut Netflix or McDonald’s out of your life (duh, how could we ever?). Just practice moderation with it.

“After college hours, it feels unsafe for me to travel to and from a gym in the city. So, I’ve made it a point to wake up a little extra early in the mornings to do yoga. This way I get some exercise done every single day.” -Gauri, a second-year student at KNC.

While waking up early is definitely not the best suit for many of us, here are some things that you can do to start living a better and healthier life. When you get hunger pangs at odd hours, have fruits for snacks instead of reaching for a packet of chips. They’re yummy and healthy, plus super convenient to grab. Replace your caffeinated beverages with better alternatives that also serve as a refresher, such as milkshakes. When you do need to order in, pick healthier options as opposed to fast foods. For exercise, try to include movement in the little day-to-day tasks. Walk around on your study break instead of sitting in bed. Take the stairs instead of elevators wherever possible (the metro station maybe?). Discover a safe road/park near you and go for the occasional walk while on the phone with family or friends.

There are innumerable little ways you could create a better lifestyle for yourself. Making conscious choices regarding nutrition and exercise will take care of you both physically and mentally, improving academic performance and overall quality of life. Pave the way for a balanced and fulfilling college experience that sets you up for success in the long run. Cheers to doing better!

Featured Image Source: Pinterest

Read also: Health and Wellness Guide for Busy College Students

Arshiya Pathania

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Arts & Culture

DU Societies: Online or Offline 

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As a semblance of normalcy begins to return to functioning around us, Delhi University performance-based societies choose to go offline with their workings – a decision that risks alienating outstation students who are still hesitant to return to campus. Read on to find more. 

Delhi University sees a diverse crowd in all terms. The play of privilege has come to the forefront in the era of the digital divide. We witnessed students committing suicide, leaving education, and going to all ends to just afford a phone or laptop for studies. In this phase, where do the cultural societies of Delhi University stand?

In the online scenario, all the performing societies were forced to operate in the online space, as a result of which we saw many online productions, audio plays, and virtual open mics. But the transition phase in DU societies has begun even before the colleges are officially reopened. A few months back a lot of performing societies started functioning offline, some with or without permission from the college authorities.

These mainly comprise drama societies, music and dance societies which need offline spaces to carry on with their operations smoothly. But since DU is not a university of Delhi students only, the question that ‘Do DU societies belong only to Delhi people?’ seems pretty valid in a scenario where outstation students are being repeatedly sidelined by the indiscriminate move to go offline with functioning.

Just a few days back Mood Indigo, the fest of IIT Bombay, organized the prelims for its street theatre competition, where some of the prominent societies performed with their productions like Ibitida, Hindu College, Hansraj Dram Soc, Kahkasha JMC, Lakshya, Kamla Nehru College, Anubhuti, Sri Venkateswara College, and many others. DU Beat talked to Simran from Hansraj Dram Soc to understand their take on conducting offline practices and workshops in collaboration with other societies.

We first years came into the society to perform and sadly it was not happening. Offline practices were essential for us to learn how DCTC worked as we will soon become seniors and the onus of training others will be on us.”

An outstation member of Kshitij, the street play society of Gargi College which organised an offline workshop in collaboration with Hansraj Dram Soc, on grounds of anonymity, shared their views with DU Beat,

If we talk about outstation students, someone who has never seen their college, for them, online meets are everything, that screen becomes more than just a screen. Offline meets are not fair to them, and they cannot be expected to travel long distances to attend, it is just not fair. They are missing out on experiences and lessons because of the circumstances. In the end, it comes down to whose perspective you choose to see – that of the helpless first year or the third year who will choose the offline mode due to the sheer rigour and space it allows one to work in.” 

The culture of performing societies is surely a source of pride for the University of Delhi but another thing that the nukkad nataks propagate is the call for equality. In such a situation, when being in Delhi means being able to experience the societies, aren’t these societies becoming elite spaces? Various outstation students, who can afford to be in the city for internships or societies have moved here already, so who is actually being left behind? For these answers, we talked to Jai Mahajan from Shunya, Ramjas who shared his society experience.

Being in an online space has affected theatre but we are trying our best to level the playfield. Shunya is trying to come up with a fusion of both online and offline work. Surely people in the offline mode are learning and adapting quickly, but it’s up to seniors how they balance the collaboration.” – Jai, a member of Shunya, Ramjas

In the month of November, Shunya conducted its first series of month-long offline workshops. Students across departments and years from the college attended the workshops, which were conducted by incumbent and erstwhile members of the society on a wide range of topics relating to theatre. But the attendees also included a large number of outstation students who flew down to the city specifically to attend these workshops. Although safety precautions were adequately taken for the same, the decision to conduct these workshops in the offline mode, which many society members too could not attend, still remains under question.

As the auditions of performing societies were conducted in the online mode in the time of the digital divide, it already pushed out students from backward sections of societies. Several talented students could not audition due to unstable internet, and some had to travel elsewhere just for the sake of giving their auditions. And after that exclusion, the dispersion of outstation and Delhi students brings forth the question of representation. Performances talking about the evils of caste and class while propagating on those same foundations are making a farce of the art form.

We can’t lose out on practice just because the colleges are online now. To get on the stage and win awards and experience that feeling of dancing in front of people cheering for you hoping that you win. To learn things online is really difficult, offline practice is of the utmost necessity if you want to bring the best out of your crew. There is no formal permission as such but socs have never totally depended on college to practice even when it was offline.” – A member of a dance society

DU performing societies have been known for their rigorous working, but the entire working process changed owing to the prevailing conditions. Talking about how his society operates, Tushar, a member of The Dramatics Society of Dyal Singh Evening College, Junoon said,

Most of the members of our society are from Delhi, offline meets are recorded, and activities are discussed in the online meets. The same activities are done in the online mode with some tweaks to make them feasible.”

Meanwhile, Jai from Shunya, Ramjas shared how audio plays helped them bridge the gap to some extent.

Some of our members are from Kashmir and places where there is low connectivity; for them, we practiced and explored auditory drama on phone calls.”

Shruti, the President of Lakshya, KNC, shared her society experience of working in the online mode. For better functioning, they divided the team into two where outstation members worked on the stage production, working with characters, while the Delhi students worked on street play.

At least some of the students would learn and know something; this year we are focusing more on learning and teaching.”

There are also various societies that chose not to function in the offline space. Siddhi from LSR Dramsoc shared her take on the issue,

Even though the offline experience was beautiful, we chose not to practice in offline mode since we have people from other cities as well in our society. We need to adapt to the times, and to pass on the culture, we talk about our past experiences and activities, so our juniors know about the working. DCTC as a group needs to think and engage in dialogue to come to a better and more feasible conclusion.”

While sharing her experience of being an outstation student, a member of a drama society said in a conversation with DU Beat,

It doesn’t feel like a team anymore; the production doesn’t feel ours. If offline working brings back the culture of theatre it also breaks the team apart in two. It’s a sort of slow coercion over outstation students to leave since we don’t play any active part. We feel like outsiders instead of outstation students, where we realize being in Delhi is a privilege that we can’t afford.” 

Despite the brouhaha surrounding the debate around offline and online functioning, there are societies that have accepted the online mode and have gone ahead with annua productions; for example, the Shakespeare Society of St. Stephens College performed their annual production for the year Chateau Manor House on Zoom a few weeks back. The reluctance of many societies to adapt to the same mode is, on one hand preserving the physical essence of these performance societies. At the same time, it risks non-functioning and becomes largely emblematic of the larger hegemony present in these societies to refuse to adapt to changing times and tweak and challenge procedural functionings that have been set in stone for years now.

Image Credits: Sabha, the dramatics society of St. Stephens College 

Read Also: The Rise of OTT: Destruction of The Theatre Culture?
Remembering Safdar Hashmi: Inquilab and Theatre

Kashish Shivani ([email protected]) 

Anwesh Banerjee ([email protected]) 

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Increasing Seats in DU: Wandering over Possibilities

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In their recent memorandum to the Executive Council, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) put forth a demand for the increment of 10% seats in all courses. Wandering over the possibilities, if they are feasible on the ground or is this just a demand to be said on paper?

In a memorandum asking for the reopening of campus, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) included a demand to increase seats for all courses by 10%. With more and more students applying at the university every year, such a demand might look like a problem solver. But this ajooba can’t be done just like that (finger snapping). We wondered if this could really be possible, and there are various odds standing in the way of the expansion of DU.  

Year after year, the cut-offs of the University of Delhi have been soaring high. This year as well 4,38,696 students have applied for the Undergraduate courses. Last year, in 2020 this number stood at 3,53,919. In the wake of a 20% increase in applicants, this year and a significant rise in this number each year might make this prospect appear wonderful. But after taking a closer look at the plethora of problems that the University has hurled upon itself it might appear as a not-so-wonderful idea. 

As we know since last year, some colleges of the University have been struggling with a financial crisis. Lack of funds, non-payment of salaries, and problems faced by Ad-hoc teachers form the avalanche of problems that colleges have been facing lately. The introduction of new seats would put more pressure on the existing funds and infrastructure. This increment would also mean a change in the faculty and student ratio. According to a report in July, out of 1076 sanctioned posts, 846 teaching posts were lying vacant.

After the introduction of the EWS quota back in 2019, the varsity had various seats lying vacant in the category. Even in 2020, the EWS category had more vacant seats than in 2019. As reported by the Times of India, despite special drives and several cut-offs about 5.6% of seats of the EWS quota were still vacant. When DU hasn’t been able to work its way around an increment of seats within a quota, how will it be feasible for the entire university? Shouldn’t our first focus of attention be on filling all the seats in the existing seat count? About 1.5% of seats were left vacant under the OBC quota in 2020, 0.6% were vacant seats under the SC quota and even the ST seats saw the most vacancy in the year 2020.  

Already under the plethora of problems, our beloved Delhi University has also implemented the New Education Policy starting from the year 2022. No talks around extra funds for the same have begun and teacher’s resistance against it continues. Under the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), students will have the choice of studying at the university for the fourth year as well, irrespective of what number of students who opt for it, it will lay force on the existing resources. The varsity will have to be prepared to host students for one more year. 

Professor Abha Habib, the Treasurer of DUTA said in a conversation with DU Beat, 

“It is an insignificant demand, a long and due process is followed after sanctions from various committees and UGC. Instead of putting more load on the same University, more attention should be laid on state universities. Why should students be forced to move out of their states for education, premier institutes should be established within states or the existing ones should be improved. There is no scope for expansion in various colleges.” 

Outstation students have to spend a lot on travel and stay for being in Delhi University. Costly PGs and barely cooked food are complementaries to the problems of staying outside your city or state. To understand such a plight DU Beat talked to a parent, Monika Sethi, mother of Ananya Sethi who is a second-year student. 

“ Kids from tier-1 cities get to study in their own state but people from Uttar Pradesh and other states have to send their kids outside because of the dearth of opportunities here. The situation then becomes like there are two households to be taken care of including all the travel costs.” 

Just to accommodate the growing number of students, the existing quality of education (which in itself consists of loads of unsolved problems) can’t be compromised. A lot of questions will have to be answered and a lot more issues to be resolved before the University can even think about the increment of seats. 

Read Also: Why should DU increase its number of seats?

Feature Image Source: Times Of India 

Kashish Shivani

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Dear Freshers, This is Your Reality Check on DU Societies         

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With the rosy season of auditions going on, this is an introduction for freshers to the dark side of DU Societies.  

As the audition season approaches, one could have seen the college areas buzzing with auditions. On the online campus, it’s a bit different; the society’s social media pages, which have been abandoned for long, now become the main agenda of society meetings. All of a sudden, reels are being posted, and you see clips of happy members of societies playing along, some on screens while some on the ground, and a Ritviz song playing in the background. The usual words that will be used in these videos are “family”, “creative community” and every adjective you can imagine for a bunch of happy undergrads. But are societies really this happy, or is it just the poster happiness to lure in freshers?

(Obviously, not all societies fall into this category, the main aim is to introduce freshers to the toxic side of DU societies.) A lot of societies are run by seniors who exercise control over all the functioning. At some colleges, administration or the teacher or convenor intervene, but at some, they don’t pay any heed. Some societies have also faced such extreme obstruction of administration that even their performances have been canceled, whereas the bullying by many societies goes unchecked due to no surveillance. (Societies should ideally lie between this tussle of control, where admin maintains minimum control but a required check, but hey, we are in DU!)

A hierarchy is maintained among all the members to maintain ‘discipline’. But this setup often leads to toxicity as seniors in positions of responsibility take undue advantage of their power. The societies that should act as communities housing creative talent become a powerhouse of trashy politics and toxicity, where bullying and ragging houses.

Recently, such a situation came to light during the auditions of Finance Investment Cell of Hansraj College, about which a first-year student said,

During our Finance Investment Cell interviews, the core team members made us dance against our will, I felt uncomfortable but since I wanted to get into the soc, I had to go with the flow. Later on, they were boasting about the fact that they made us do squats, dance, and sing in the interviews during our induction meeting.” 

First Years who are already ridden with anxiety get pushed underneath the wish of being in the cool circles of college and fail to report such behaviors, and the cycle of toxicity continues. Another student from a dance society shared their experience in a conversation with DU Beat.

This certain level of hierarchy restricts our freedom as an artist and as a person. The role of unions should be to represent the members of the society and to guide us, but it feels like someone has given them authority and they just want to show it off.”

Even in the online mode, several students have suffered terrible things at the hands of societies. With the second batch moving into the online campus, we need to configure our thinking accordingly. If the cultural front of the university keeps on reeking privilege and toxicity, the development of the individual would be a far-gone concept here. It’s high time proper redressal forums (talking about Cultural Secretaries) work in every college to respond to all grievances and dismantle these toxic hierarchies.

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Kashish Shivani

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