With just days before reopening, students and teachers remain in the dark, syllabi remain unnotified, decision-making bypasses experts, and institutional autonomy is under threat.
With less than two weeks to go before Delhi University reopens, teachers and council members are raising concerns over the rushed, unclear rollout of the NEP. The University is set to introduce over 82 postgraduate courses under the new PGCF and begin the fourth year of the UGCF for the first time. But shockingly, the syllabi for these new courses haven’t even been notified yet.
Associate Professor of Physics at Miranda House Abha Dev Habib, and also Secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, posted a detailed statement on Facebook titled “Killing a University!.” She wrote,
Courseworks and syllabi for the UGCF courses for semester VII and VIII, which concern over 60,000 students have not been notified even as these were passed by the EC of 23 May and 12 July 2025. Without information on time, how labs will be prepared or students informed of Elective papers or teachers will prepare for new courses, nothing concerns the University anymore,”
Dr. Mithuraaj Dhusiya, elected member of DU’s Executive Council, shares the same alarm.
DU is still not prepared for the 4th year NEP-UGCF in terms of infrastructure, manpower and academic syllabus. It is extremely shocking that both students and teachers don’t know yet what they would be studying or teaching in the 4th year,”
And such problems go beyond syllabus interference as Rudrashish Chakraborty, an Associate Professor at Kirori Mal College and an elected member of the DUTA Executive says,
The colleges are looking at a situation where theoretically there is a potential increase of 33% students in the institutions with no promise of extra funds. This is a very well-planned effort to dismantle the largest public-funded University in the country”
What’s most alarming is that recent syllabus changes aren’t coming from within departments, but are being imposed by people with no expertise in the subjects, highlighted by Professor Rudrashish Chakraborty:
These outsiders are neither experts nor even belong to the subjects concerned, they act as paratroopers in Standing Committee meetings at the behest of the University administration.” He points out that academic decisions are being overridden, and “no self-respecting academic is allowed to survive in the University of Delhi without compromising on his/her academic integrity.” Referring to the resignation of the Head of the History department,
Abha Dev Habib warns,
Committees have been set up to dictate terms on syllabi already passed by AC-EC. This is unconstitutional and is the result of excessive interference by BJP-RSS.”
Media coverage in recent months has highlighted growing concern among faculty over DU’s readiness to implement NEP-based curriculum. According to India Today, faculty members have also raised alarm about rising teaching loads. Faculty members are expected to engage in 40 hours of work weekly, yet there has been no new staff recruitment. Abha Dev Habib told India Today Education, “The UGC regulations, 2018, clearly specify 14–16 teaching hours. Forcing teachers beyond that violates norms,”
With only days remaining before the university reopens, the situation remains uncertain for thousands of students and their professors alike.
Read Also: Uncertainty Shadows The Fourth Year of Delhi University’s NEP Rollout.
Image credit: Arush for DU Beat
Juhi Bansal