Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Tag

DU

Browsing
Miranda House

King’s and I: Studying International Relations

By

kings miranda
With the onset of the summer vacations, probable activities that are worthwhile start lurking in one’s head. It was then that I came across a flier which read “King’s comes to you! King’s College London and Miranda House welcome you! Apply now!” And it certainly was one of those moments when I realized the perks of studying in a prestigious college like Miranda House and in the University of Delhi.

The King’s College London Summer School at Delhi was organized in collaboration with Miranda House, University of Delhi and Think Education, an educational organization which works to create opportunities for promising students worldwide. It was a high quality and intensive academic programme open to students from around the country. The session 1 was held from 4th June-14th June 2013, and the session 2 from 17th June – 28th June 2013. It was in the first session that I studied the spectacularly interesting subject of International Relations. The concept of a ‘summer school’ being a new one to the students of  the University of Delhi was met with looks of apprehension; yet the KCL session saw around 80 students from various universities in attendance. Our tutor for this course was Dr. Diana Bozhilova, a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Hellenic Studies at KCL, and also a dynamic lady with amazing knowledge in a subject which takes one years to study.

Being an absolute newcomer to the varying subjects of Political Science, Economics, Philosophy, Law and Sociology; most of us had trouble adjusting to the hefty curriculum, but the interactive approach and the alternating group activity plus lecture schedule made it all easily understandable and also enjoyable. We all breezed through heavy duty subjects like ‘global governance, international relations theory, the workings of the United Nations, historical origins of the European Union etc’. One afternoon we would make strategies to overcome problems in the European Parliament, whereas on another, build a clean city from scratch. We saw documentaries and videos ranging from sea piracy to that of a gender bias, which was definitely a wonderful break from the monotonous classroom sessions we all usually have to endure. The experience was one both mentally and emotionally enriching, as I made friends from places I never thought I would, with many of them here to stay. The summer school gave us an excuse to eat out, have fun, discuss theories over coffee and laugh over anecdotes recited by many of us.

The summer school not only taught me what the study of International Relations means, but also helped me decide what I would want to pursue later on in life. It helped me experience what it means to study in a foreign classroom, in a completely different setting and with a vast curriculum. It really helped broaden my horizons; while having fun. This summer school is one experience which I would never forget. Given a chance, I would definitely attend it again. I can proudly say that I returned with a greater sense of self after attending The King’s College London Summer School at Delhi.

Keep Reading
By
News

NSIT to be Granted the Status of a University

By

NSIT
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, a leading engineering college in New Delhi and currently a part of Delhi University, has now been granted the status of a university and would be called NSIT University, Delhi. The Cabinet meeting which was presided over by the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, gave its approval to upgrade NSIT into a university. Dikshit said “NSIT, which has emerged as a premier technological institute for education and research in the area of engineering and technology and has carved a niche for itself nationally and internationally.”

She further added that the upgradation shall improve the standard of education of students and boost up the quality of students. It has been agreed by the Delhi Government as well as the Board of Governors of NSIT that in the process of transformation of NSIT into a State university, the name ‘NSIT’ would remain intact thereby maintaining a brand linkage with the past.

Presently, the institute is affiliated to University of Delhi for its academic programmes. The institute has at present six under-graduate programmes in the areas of technologies and three post-graduate programmes for M-tech degrees along with research programmes for PHD degrees in all engineering disciplines and applied sciences.

At the very foundation of NSIT, which was formally known as Delhi Institute of Technology (DIT) in 1983, it was envisaged that the institute would eventually aim for becoming a university. It was granted administrative autonomy in 1986 with the direction to keep in mind the long-term goal of achieving the status of a university. The institute applied for the grant of Deemed-University status earlier also, However, Delhi Government was at that time not willing to sacrifice 85% reservation of seats for Delhi students and thus the idea was shelved. But in the recent times the Delhi government has granted university status to many institutes like DTU, IIIT, Ambedkar, G.G.S. IP University and IGIT and now NSIT being a new addition to the list, the government is aiming to make Delhi an educational hub.

However students differ with the government’s decision on many fronts. Many students have shown their discontent by writing mails, meeting government and principal.

Kushal Sagar, one of the student of NSIT apprises that NSIT is not ready for such transformation as it lacks infrastructure. It has been said that the funding given to the institute as a state university would improve and hence the for infrastructural growth will increase but in recent past we have had sufficient funds available for the betterment of our infrastructure but they haven’t been put up to any good use till now. He further added that another blow for the students is the loss of brand value of DU, on which they used to bank upon while applying to foreign universities. This transformation will too have a bearing upon the placements as central universities are given more preference over state universities.

The students also fear that with the introduction of Meta courses and four year degree courses in DU, the quality of students shall deteriorate and they will face more stiff competition from the new changes occurring in the field of science in DU.

The students are of the view that they would have welcomed the change if NSIT would have been upgraded to an NIT or IIT, thereby maintaining the central character and retaining the tag of an ?Institute of National Importance while achieving full autonomy or  the complete control could be passed on to Delhi University.

Some people say that this move was initiated by the government just because the government wants to project to the common man that during their tenure, they have established a number of universities and thus, disregarding the quality they are targeting only on the quantity to gain vote bank. The conversion would result in recruitment of faculty, administrative staff and students on the basis of donation and approach. University will be under the influence of local MLAs and MPs which will lead to deterioration in the quality of education.

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

Political Science under FYUP: Course analysis

By

polsci-wp
The University of Delhi has been through a lot in the past two years. The shift from an annual system to a semester mode has been quick, tremendous, and a whole new experience – just the way all change has ever taken place. And just while we were all settling in, the University is going to see yet another new way of life – the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP). Through this article, we look at how it has affected the Political Science course offered by the University.

The Course
Analysing the University’s undergraduate Political Science course in particular, the first thing that strikes a person is that in the foundation year, there are very few subjects (out of eleven) that would be vaguely related to political science – namely Governance and Citizenship, Indian History and Culture, Environment and public health, Geographic and socio- economic diversity. While courses like IT, Mathematics and Literature may help enhance vocational skills, they have very little to do with the subject itself.

The structure of the course has obviously changed, and the university has tried to make it more comprehensive by introducing twenty major subjects (Discipline Course 1) related to the students’ particular subject of interest, six minor subjects (Discipline Course 2) for additional information and knowledge, and four skill based Applied Subjects. While this well defined way of functioning will give students an in depth research perspective to political science, the fear of reading material being too short (as laid down by the university) to provide greater understanding – especially in a research driven subject like political science – is quickly seeping in. Yet, many feel that the course may become more practical, with all knowledge being coupled with important skill based learning.

Mind Body and Heart Courses and ECA
Some also see this as a way of making Political Science a less rigorous course, with co curricular activity being given importance, along with skill building and overall development with courses like Mind Body and Soul. But the essence of a research driven subject, the idea of creating a generation of academics who understand in depth political theory and have the potential to lead revolutions is slowly diminishing.

Freedom of Choice
While students will now be able to make an informed choice about exactly what honours degree they’d like to pursue, there has also been certain curtailing of free choice, with the eleven foundation courses being compulsory along with one applied language course. These courses like Information Technology, Science and Life, Business, Entrepreneurship, and Management are from varied streams and may not really equip a student studying Political Science.

(Political Science 2013 Cut-offs)

Exit Points
Under the FYUP, the mid course exit points provided after two years and three years respectively may also prove to be the easier way out for some. Fear is that it would serve to the disadvantage of students from underprivileged backgrounds and women students. Since the first year is only a foundation year, these exit points in a course like political science may lead to graduates with half baked knowledge on concepts that are built over time –like theories of politics, international relations and global politics, governments and constitutions.

Employability
Amidst all protests and petitions against the FYUP was the Vice Chancellors argument of the new system improving employability and placement patterns of the university. For a subject like political science, whose scope is so diverse, students would benefit more from quality education than from unguaranteed, but apparently easy jobs.

Final verdict
Like every course, Political Science too, has been affected by the FYUP –for the better in some ways, and for worse in others. The final verdict, though, can only be given after this batch of students completes their graduation. Ruin or reform, this change is finally taking place despite protest from a substantial part of the university, and each course can only accept it and make it work for itself.

(For analysis of other courses click here)

Illustration Credit: Bidisha Mandal

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

Apprehensions about the Four Year Undergraduate Programme

By

While class 12 pass-outs sit wide eyed about the FYUP, current DU are students also anxious to see how the new system pans out. Amidst all this chaos we shall in the coming days try to bring you some reasonable goods, bads and uglies about the FYUP.

While we have already listed the positives, here are a few apprehensions that students, parents and teachers alike hold:

  • Employability: Will the FYUP actually lead to an increase in the overall employability of a student? Increasing the employability was one of the main arguments put forward for the main system. However, with the DUSU conducting large scale job fair, with a central as well as college specific placement cell is there a need for a system face lift just to increase employability?
  • Work Load: We all are aware how the workload almost doubled with the coming of the semester system. And given that a big apprehension is that with the FYUP the workload shall also balloon out of hand. Courses are being added- sometimes some courses being diluted (more on that in a bit) but given the overall increase in subjects and projects (1 per week in some places) will the students be left with decent amount of free time?
  • The Course: Adding courses, diluting the main (major) course, mind body and heart courses, WHAT is even happening on the academic front? While the syllabus that has been rolled out for most courses is decently structured, will someone help us understand the real deal, given that even the teachers are quite unaware?
  • Dropouts: While the University uses the euphemism of ‘mid- course multiple exits’ we all know they are talking about the majority of students who dropout each year without completing their course. The issue is that the dropouts do not have a degree to speak for their time spent in college. What our question is, is whether the degree given to dropouts (after completion of 2 or 3 years) be simply a confidence certificate to half knowledge, or not?
  • Post Graduation: Yes, once the FYUP is in place PG shall be of only one year, good, maybe, maybe not? It is feasible for those who stick on with DU, but for those, and most of us who turn to other universities for PG it means a total of 6 years to be spent in college- given that other universities still have a 2 (sometimes 3) year PG Programme.
  • Extra Curricular activities: DU has been an ECA inclined person’s delight, even in the face of the semester system. So, are compulsory ECA and Mind Body Heart courses really that necessary? Even if they are, will the FYUP calendar and work load mess with the sacrosanct fest season?
  • Infrastructure: How can a University that is already suffering from a crisis of room to take classes in afford to make itself fully technically equipped to live up to the FYUP’s benchmarks? We’re afraid that the dedication with which they approach the practical subjects shall be half hearted.
  • Teachers: It is an obvious fact that there is a shortage of academic staff, the number runs in the hundreds. And the staff members who are already part of the system is reluctant to embrace the FYUP, will the students suffer in this tug of war?

We hope the University comes out to answer these questions in a clear, student friendly format.

(Also See: Why the Four Year Undergraduate Programme might not be such a bad idea)

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

Entrance Gyaan: Bachelor of Management Studies- Last Minute Do’s and Don’ts

By

image
Another year, another batch and yet another bunch of earth shattering cut offs. If you’re a class 12th student about to enter college, you’re in for a treat. SRCC and St. Stephens are having yet another bumper year with all the aspiring economists vying for a golden ticket. All the budding engineers are hoarding to get into IIT Delhi (or any other, for that matter).And all the others students pursuing different streams are holding their breath as they eagerly await the first cut offs.

Among the various questionable changes being introduced in the curriculum from this academic year, the introduction BMS-Bachelor of Management Studies- is the most engaging. It is a four-year undergraduate program that has been formulated after combing BBS, BBEand BFIA. To everyone’s surprise,More than 22,000 students have applied for the course. So it’s just going to be you and 21,999 other students competing for a few hundreds seats, to say the very least. Not to dampen your spirits further and to make this article actually worth reading, let’s focus on what exactly is the entrance exam going to be like.

The marks are distributed as follows:

50% The Entrance Exam
30% The Board Result
20% Personal Interview

In order to actually reach the personal interview round, an applicant first needs to clear the written exam. Here is a list of Do’s and Don’ts that can be helpful in preparing for the exam:

  • The Test Structure: The exam will have a total of 100 questions. Although there is no set syllabus, the exam aims to test:
    • General/ Business Awareness
    • Quantitative Abilities (Mathematics)
    • Reasoning Skills
    • English.

    The format of the exam itself is still the same, so practicing from past year papers can be of great help. Practice questions can also be found on the Facebook pages of prominent institutes like Pratham, IMS, Edumentor etc. Another very useful website I stumbled upon is ‘www.indiabix.com’. It has general practice questions on most of the sections for BMS. Also, continue reading the newspaper (no, not HT City and the Delhi Times, but the main paper).

  •  Segment wise Division: Every candidate has only 120 minutes to complete the exam. So it’s better to think of a strategy before entering the exam hall. The section on General Awareness is the shortest, so that should be attempted first. The Mathematics and Critical Reasoning sections, being the lengthiest, should follow it. The English Section is relatively easy so that can be attempted in the last, keeping in mind the time constraints. It’s better to attempt an entire section at once as it helps to maintain a flow of thought.
  • Negative Marking: 1 mark will be deducted for each incorrect answer and correct answers fetch you 3 marks each. So if your unsure of an answer, it’s better to leave it blank. Also, DO NOT mark multiple answers for the same question.
  • The Examination Day– Irrespective of what you have or haven’t done, stay calm and confident. Do not clutter your mind with new things. Either you know it or you don’t know it and there is nothing you can do to change that a few hours before the exam.
  • Last Minute Worries– Last minute hassles can cause more troubles than the exam itself. Make sure that all your documents, stationery, admit card etc. are in place well in advance. Read all the instructions carefully a day or two before the exam to make sure you don’t ignore an important instruction.

Keeping all pointers apart, work hard; there is no substitute for that. Study smartly and plan your time well. These two always seem to work.

All the best!

Illustration Credit: Megha Sarogi

(For entire Admissions 2013 coverage click here)

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

An Open Letter to VC Dinesh Singh

By

dinesh singhRespected Mr. Dinesh Singh,

This letter is to congratulate you on your relentless pursuits to making Delhi University a world class university. I am fully aware that due to the “hurried” changes in the degree program, you have received more brickbats than bouquets, but this letter is an exception.

It has been around three years that you’ve been elected the VC of the best university in India. In your interviews you’ve maintained that the preparations for implementing the four year undergraduate programme (FYUP) started as soon as you held office. Even then you made the smart decision to implement the semester system, just to replace it with FYUP after two years. Your uncanny future planning is admirable, sir.

You’ve claimed rather vehemently that FYUP is going to increase the employability of students. I fully trust you when you imply that by studying non-core subjects more than core subjects in the span of 4 years, a pass out will be the preferred choice. I also believe you that by giving multiple exit points and still “benefiting” from the studies, a drop out with a B.A degree will get a job without really specializing in his 2/3 years of study.

Sir, I appreciate your concern for the students who wish to study in U.S.A after completing their graduation in India. Your decision to make structural changes (increasing the span from 3 years to 4 years to suit the USA model) rather than focusing on the quality of the structure (the quality of core disciplines, lessening the burden of non-core subjects) is admirable. Because you see, spending a year extra without learning extra is the goal, USA and all.

I understand you value quality education, that’s what FYUP is all about after all, isn’t it? Therefore I applaud your decision of making students study the disciplines that are in no way related to the field they want to major in. The fact that you’re making an English major aspirant from humanities background study biochemistry perfectly makes sense. Because the value of science foundation courses is so important in literature after all, that it would have been better to delete a Shakespeare text and replace it with physics.  Also, since not everyone has studied biochemistry at the high school level, college level bio-chemistry is going to be pretty much same to high school bio chemistry, so that everyone is able to study, thereby not taking college level studies a notch up. I perfectly see where you’re taking quality education with this.

You, respected sir have created an ideal university, where professors keep shouting and administrators turn a blind eye. Where students aren’t able to learn and nobody listens. Where cut offs keep rising and quality education keeps going downwards.

Congratulations sir. My heartiest wishes to you in your endeavour to achieve life, liberty and happiness, and perpetual deafness.

Yours sincerely
A student who being in second year is facing the misfortune of not studying in FYUP.

Image Credit: South Campus website

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

SOL might adopt FYUP in the next academic year

By

After a range of concerns surfacing amidst students, the School of Open Learning, popularly known as SOL might be getting the FYUP next academic year onwards.

SOL or School of Open Learning is Delhi University’s solution for students who prefer distance learning. The correspondence courses from the institute are a popular preference for students who want to immediately work after school while they also earn a degree. It is also an option for those who do not have a very high percentage that might be sufficient for them to earn admission in their choice of course in a regular college. However, the best part about SOL has been the fact that despite the fact that you are doing a correspondence course, the degree is the same as other colleges and is awarded by the Delhi University.

When the rest of the colleges in the Delhi University went ahead with the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) this year, it was announced that SOL would continue with the previous existing three year programme. The decision has raised a slew of apprehensions among applicants who are now looking at a three year correspondence course vis-à-vis a four year regular one. Not only does it create a disparity between the degrees awarded, it also raises questions whether the ones under the FYUP will actually be more ‘employable’.

The reason for SOL not adopting FYUP this year is the fact that the methodology of SOL courses is heavily dependent on the course material. And it is apparent that developing course material for the hurriedly formulated FYUP will certainly take time. However, SOL authorities believe that they should be able to work on the same and the FYUP should come to SOL in the coming year. At present the centre offers five undergraduate courses namely, B.A. Programme, B.Com (Pass), B.Com (Hons.), B.A. (Hons.) Political Science and B.A (Hons.) English literature. One needs to note that three of these don’t exist with the FYUP. While B.A. Programme is scrapped, B.Com has been replaced with a Baccalaureate in Commerce degree. Hence, what would happen to SOL next year with its limited set of courses is a matter of concern as well.

With drastic changes coming to the rest of the university, the changes that are in store for SOL might have been delayed, but are surely still expected.

(For entire Admissions 2013 coverage click here)

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

Sports Admission Guidelines

By
File photo
File photo

This admission season, as per university guidelines, ECA aspirants will not get more than 15% concession from the last cutoff for a specific course in the general cutoff list. Till 2011 there was no minimum eligibility criterion for students successful in ECA trials. It is being said that putting a bar on the concession in academic merit will prevent backdoor entries in colleges and hence a maximum of 15% concession in the cutoff has been introduced.

a) Super Category: Direct Admission by the College without Trials

Sports  persons  who  have  participated / represented  the  country  in the following competition(s):

  1. Olympic Games by  International Olympic Committee
    1. World  Championships  under  International  Sports  Federations (IQA  and/or MYAS recognized / affiliated Games)
    2. Asian Games by Olympic Council of Asia
    3. Asian Championships organized by International Federation of concerned game / sport (recognized/ affiliated by MYAS and / or lOA)
    4. Commonwealth Games, S.A.F. Games and Afro-Asian Games
    5. Paralympic Games (recognized/ affiliated by IOC and / or MYAS)

b) Admission  based on Sports Trials

  1. Maximum 50 Marks for Sports Certificates
  2. It is essential for the candidate to qualify any One of the following Fitness Test items for Archery, Chess and Shooting and any Two of the following Fitness

Test  items for  other  Games/Sports  as  per the standards  laid down  by the university (for the general fitness):

1 Strength Standing broad Jump:1.65 mts for Men1.15 mts for Women Three attempts allowed
2 Endurance 1000 mts Run / Walk:5.00 mm   for Men6.00 mm    for Women One attempt allowed
3 Speed 50 mts. Dash:8.00 sec. for Men9.00 sec. for Women One attempt allowed

A candidate who qualifies the Fitness Test will be issues a certificate by the concerned college. This certificate will be accepted by other colleges too.

A maximum of 50 marks are allotted for Sports Trails, which includes skills test, game performance test, game specific fitness, fundamentals of the game/sport etc. A minimum of 18 marks are required to make a candidate eligible for sports admission. Schedule for the sports trials can be accessed from the website of individual colleges.


Image Credits: Additi Seth
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

Open Letter from the Faculty Members of the History Department Criticizing FYUP

By

DU_Logo1The Faculty members of the History Department at Delhi University recently wrote an open letter criticizing the FYUP and highlighting significant loopholes in the way in which this new undergraduate system was implemented by the University officials. Here it is:

“We are in the midst of strong protests by teachers and students against the imposition of the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) in Delhi University by the University administration. Since forums for academic discussion and debate in the University are no longer functioning, this letter from Faculty members in the History Department at Delhi University seeks to set the record straight on many details related to this issue.

1) The public needs to know that discussions regarding the new FYUP were managed by the University authorities, not in a democratic academic environment framed by University regulations, but in committees carefully screened by the University administration. The Department of History, indeed no department in the university, was involved in its formulation. We were eventually given a framework within which we were compelled to produce a syllabus for undergraduate instruction (about 35 courses to be taught in the third and fourth years of the programme) in the ridiculously short time of a fortnight, eventually changed to a month. University authorities clearly have no conception that a task of this kind requires time for serious deliberation and discussion about academic content of the courses and the pedagogic principles underlining them.

2) If the History Department was distanced from the framing of the course structure of the FYUP, it was kept entirely in the dark in the making of the compulsory ‘Foundation Courses’ to be taught to every single student in the first two years. Until recently we were actually not privy to their contents – such is the level to which the University has distanced its Faculties from itself today. All new courses in the University are supposed to be first debated in the respective Department Councils, and then passed by their Committee of Courses and finally the respective Faculties. These basic University regulations that ensure the quality and academic integrity of its courses were systematically flouted to enable the passing of the Foundation Courses. The Faculty of the History Department was not informed, nor did we participate in the recently conducted orientation programme for the History Foundation Course which was held for the first batch of specially selected college teachers.

3) Serious questions can be asked about the intellectual and pedagogical quality of the Foundation Courses prepared by the University. The Indian History and Culture Course, for instance, lacks academic rigour, refers to subjects from history while providing no context, and does not introduce students to historical methodology or serious scholarship. Some of the signatories to this letter have drawn attention elsewhere – that the course suffers from a naive and flat presentism, and fails even so much as to mention caste, class or community formation. The casualness in the preparation of this course is underlined by the fact that some of its parts are plagiarized from a Class XI CBSE textbook. Leaving the ethics of the case aside for the moment, the education of first year students in Delhi University is pegged at the same standard as the CBSE! The course has a sophisticated bibliography, but it is clear that these readings were not the inspiration for its contents or the philosophy that guided its pedagogy. A more likely hint of its sources of inspiration lie in the online materials – links to Wikipedia – to which students are also guided. This is shocking considering that teachers all over the world strongly dissuade their students from using their variable and unverifiable quality of information.

4) It is essential to keep in mind that University Education is a moment for both intellectual exploration and training in the complexities of different disciplines. Instead we have courses like the compulsory Integrating Mind, Body and Heart, which consist entirely of a foray into selective episodes in the life of Mahatma Gandhi plucked out of context and require that students model themselves on him (and him alone) in their life. Surely the goal of a modern University is to promote independent and wide-ranging thinking rather than this kind of uncritical and most un-Gandhian worship / adulation of a single individual, no matter how great s/he may be.

The protest and anxiety voiced by the signatories to this letter cuts through the differing intellectual persuasions of the members of the History Department. While the University administrators blame the University Faculties for stymieing progress and course revision, this is far from the truth. We are protesting draconian changes that are conceptually weak, irregularly framed and arbitrarily enforced.”

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2013

Students, Teachers Protesting against FYUP Detained

By

About 150 teachers and students who had gathered to protest against the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) in Delhi University were arrested at India Gate on Monday. The protest was a peaceful candlelight protest and was organised by the Joint Action Front for Democratic Education (JAFDE).

There were about 500 teachers and students in all who came together at India Gate to hold a torchlight procession. All the detained teachers and students were loaded onto buses and kept in the Parliament Street Police. On this matter, S B S Tyagi, DCP, New Delhi was quoted as saying, “They didn’t have our permission to protest at India Gate. We advised them to move to Jantar Mantar but they refused. We had to detain them.”

Keep Reading
By