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The abrupt removal of five ad-hoc teachers from the Sociology Department at IP College has stirred new concerns about the college administration’s decision and the impact of this on both students and the faculty.

On September 29, 2023, Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW) released the list of candidates selected for the positions of assistant professors in the Sociology department. This announcement came as a surprise to both the department’s existing staff and students, as five ad-hoc teachers, with years of service at the institution, were unexpectedly displaced. The college had been conducting interviews to fill various vacancies in several departments for a while. Notably, none of the eight newly recruited professors were from the previous faculty.

The displaced faculty, who participated in the interviews, were shocked to learn that they had been replaced without any justification or prior indication. They expressed their dismay over the lack of support and understanding from the administration. One of the affected faculty members shared,

There were no words of comfort or support extended from the admin’s end. We are clueless and shattered.”

The displaced teachers had been dedicated to their roles, making significant contributions to the department’s success. They voiced their concerns regarding the fairness of the process, amidst claims of ideological differences being a reason for such sudden removals, one of the displaced ad-hoc professors emphasized that,

It is not Us vs. Them; we are not opposed to the newly hired teachers, but we are questioning the fairness of the process in that the contributions and labour of the teachers who had been working in the department for a number of years were not prioritised. We were replaced by those who had just received their master’s degrees and have little to no experience; how can they be better than us?”

Moreover, the professors demanded accountability from the selection committee and the college administration. They emphasized that this issue is not just about the fate of teachers but also about the well-being and educational experience of the students. The sudden change in faculty could disrupt the existing environment of class rooms and impact the students’ learning process.

One student from IPCW expressed,

They should have retained some of the old professors for the sake of students. Everything happened overnight. Our professors had created this department with love and dedication, and we were not prepared for this sudden change. The department was led by experts in their field, and the shock still lingers.”

Another student shared their initial experience with the new faculty, saying,

We had complete trust in our old professors’ teaching styles, and we were comfortable with them. Some of the new faculty lack prior experience, which has been a source of frustration for us as students. With exams approaching, we are concerned about the time it might take for the new faculty to adapt to our learning environment.”

During conversations, the displaced ad-hoc faculty mentioned their gratitude for the overwhelming support they received from their students and the larger academic community. However, they expressed doubts about the promise of getting position into other institutions, given the limited number of sociology departments in the university.

In conclusion, this incident at IPCW raises concerns about the legitimacy of decisions made by colleges and selection committees. Such decisions not only impact the professors who are displaced but also have far-reaching consequences on students’ education and the department’s reputation. The displaced faculty members hope that similar situations do not occur in the future.

We as teachers try to build the vision of students, we believe that with our experience they can also benefit, It takes time to form such bonds with students that we had already built. The message is simple, value the labour and contributions of those who have given their everything to build this field.” One of the displaced ad-hoc teachers from IPCW.

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DU Teachers’ Associations Unite to Take on RSS-backed Union in DUTA Elections

By DU Beat August 27, 2023

The alliance formed by the teachers’ associations aims at “reclaiming the DUTA from the cronies of the ruling dispensation and defend public higher education.”

10 Delhi University teachers’ organisations and 4 independent teachers have come together to form the Democratic United Teachers’ Alliance (D.U.T.A) to contest the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) 2023 polls. Ahead of the elections, which will witness over 10,000 academics of the University casting their votes to elect the leadership, the alliance has announced Dr. Aditya Narayan Misra as the joint candidate for the post of DUTA president. The teachers’ organisations have joined forces to challenge the BJP-RSS affiliated National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF) in the upcoming DUTA elections scheduled for September 27. The DUTA elections are expected to witness a tough contest between the D.U.T.A and the NDTF, which emerged victorious in 2021 after a 24-year hiatus. AK Bhagi was elected as the DUTA President, defeating his nearest contender, Abha Dev Habib by a margin of 1382 votes.

The Democratic United Teachers Alliance, formed with the aim of “defending public education by reclaiming DUTA”, is a coalition of multiple groups including Congress’s Indian National Teachers’ Congress (INTEC), AAP’s Academic for Action and Development Teachers Association (AADTA), the Left-leaning Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), and various independent teachers’ associations such as the Common Teachers’ Front (CTF), Delhi Teachers’ Initiative (DTI), Independent Teachers’ Front for Social Justice (ITF-SJ), and Samajwadi Shikshank Manch (SSM) and the Voice of DU Adhocs.

There is an immediate and serious need to reclaim the DUTA as a teachers’ collective that works in defence of public-funded education and rights of teachers and students in the forthcoming DUTA elections,” – the joint statement by D.U.T.A read.

At a press conference on August 25, held at the Press Club of India, Prof. Nandita Narain, former DUTA President said that the current NDTF leadership had turned the union office into a “department of the administration which slaughtered thousands of good teachers in the ongoing recruitment drive.” While the teachers’ movement in the country looked for guidance and inspiration from DUTA to reclaim the rights of the teachers, the alliance alleged that the DUTA leadership failed thousands of ad-hoc teachers in their quest for permanent jobs after decades of service.

We are here together to safeguard the dignity and security of all teachers. We are here to defend full public funding and build public opinion against the privatisation and other sinister designs of NEP, 2020. We are committed to absorption of all existing ad hoc and temporary teachers and reinstatement of those who have been displaced during the last two years, while protecting the services of those who have already secured permanent appointment.” – read a statement by the teachers’ alliance.

The Academic Council of Delhi University, in its meeting held on 11.8.2023, reported a letter from the UGC granting approval to DU as a Category 1 – University under the Graded Autonomy Regulation. By permitting the University to function on a self-financing basis, the D.U.T.A alleges that the regulation would pave the way for commercialisation and deprive the University of necessary Government grants for teaching-learning and infrastructure.

Salaries, promotion, and pension will all have to be taken care of through self-financing. No expectations of funds can be kept from either the University Grants Commission or the Government. Will teachers be displaced? Are we handing over the entire University in private hands? Will the character of the University remain what it is?”- commented Prof Narain in the press conference on Friday.

Prof. Narain, Convener of the Democratic United Teachers’ Alliance, stated that the policy-driven decline in the academic quality of public universities is best demonstrated by the new version of the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), which carries a plethora of anti-academic moves to undermine the integrity of various disciplines.

The DUTA leadership has refrained from raising their voices about the degradation of academic quality due to the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. A number of academically vacuous courses have been introduced in the name of most Value Added Courses and Skill Enhancement Courses, which add neither to values nor skills, and leave students too exhausted to focus on the core academic disciplines. On the other hand, internal assessment has been increased from 25 to 45%, with a new component of continuous assessment. This, given the massive reduction in teaching-tutorial-practical time, is an academic fraud. None of these changes were brought after consultation with teachers.” – mentioned the statement released on August 25.

The statement by D.U.T.A highlights the concern that self-financing by institutions will be undertaken by loans, which will be repaid through increasing student fees for “commercially viable courses” and discarding “uneconomic” ones.

Massive fee hikes will follow, exacerbating the exclusionary tendencies that have been already initiated by the CUET process. Even if the constitutionally mandated provision of reservation is retained (though it finds no mention in the NEP document), students belonging to deprived sections will be excluded through the back door of high fees.” – added the statement.

Claiming this as “the death of higher education, DUTA joint candidate Dr. Aditya Narayan Misra, of the AAP-affiliated Academic for Action and Development Delhi Teachers’ Association (AADTA), urged teachers to join hands and fight for the withdrawal of the National Education Policy,2020.

Despite our dissent, the fees for certain courses under the Law Faculty were approved at nearly Rs.12.5 lakhs, the same courses which were being taught at a fee of Rs 5000-7000. How is this “greater autonomy?”. This should not simply be a reporting item that is brought and told to us. The students’ future depends on it, and the teachers’ future depends on it- why are such decisions being imposed without due discussion? The DUTA has failed us. It is being used as an extension to privatise and commercialise higher education.” – remarked Misra, a three-time president of DUTA.

Clause 19.2 on Graded Autonomy in the NEP 2020, which envisages that all public colleges and universities will become “independent, self-governing institutions” for the governance of which “a Board of Governors (BoG) shall be established consisting of a group of highly qualified, competent and dedicated individuals”, has also been opposed by the alliance. They fear that the BoGs will govern institutions without external interference and make decisions concerning the “incentive structure” unilaterally without reference to UGC regulations.

The Board of Governors will have the complete autonomy to establish new courses and curriculum and hire and fire as per will, with recruitment of contractual teachers and foreign faculty being given more importance. Post independence, we established institutions like the D-School, the IITs, the IIMs, and the English, Commerce and Sociology Departments – but we were always self-sufficient in devisiong and teaching our own curriculum. Why do we need foreign faculty now? They will display the foreign teachers for 4 months and use it as a tactic to raise fees. We are witnessing the biggest privatisation deal of India.” – said Misra, who has been teaching Political Science at DU since 1986.

Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) Secretary, Abha Dev Habib, remarked that the reluctance of the DU administration to form the governing bodies of colleges administered by the Delhi Government will formalise the dependence of public higher educational institutions on private corporates.

DU authorities have packed the Academic Council (AC) subcommittee for academic affairs with NDTF members whose only role is to subvert statutory powers of Committees of Courses (CoCs), Departments and Faculties, and impose unacademic changes in syllabi in keeping with their agenda of saffronisation. The DTF teachers of DU have decided that public higher education cannot be redeemed if the current leadership is successful in its aim of converting the teachers’ collective into a patronage dispensing tool to further NEP through undemocratic demobilisation.” – remarked Habib.

Alleging that NDTF-led DUTA remained silent during the mass displacement of ad hoc teachers in the University, the alliance asserted that the teachers’ union’s claims that displaced teachers are being absorbed elsewhere are not supported by transparent data.

What is most reprehensible is that instead of taking up the cause of all teachers, the leadership has been selective and discriminate. It is the first time in the history of DUTA that a large number of teachers are afraid of displeasing their own elected representatives,” the statement added.

The alliance claimed that the outgoing (present) DUTA committee has been hand-in- glove in furthering anti-academic and anti-teacher moves. It has also undermined the functioning of wider trade unions of teachers such as FEDCUTA that are fighting against privatisation and for the restoration of the old pension scheme.

The D.U.T.A. is committed to ensuring absorption of all existing ad hoc and temporary teachers, reinstatement of those displaced in open positions, and protection of services of all permanent teachers, with counting of past services at all levels of promotion and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, and also for the protection of service conditions of Librarians and teachers of Physical Education. It will launch an effective struggle to strengthen public-funded education by demanding a rollback of NEP2020, Graded Autonomy and all such attempts to privatise our public universities.” – the statement by D.U.T.A concluded.

Prof. Abha Dev Habib said that this unprecedented unity of different groups comes in the light of the “gravest challenges confronting the teachers, students and non-teaching employees of DU”.

There has been mass displacement of serving temporary and ad hoc teachers with the active connivance of the NDTF leadership and especially in institutions helmed by those who are part of the ruling dispensation. The institutional murder of Samarveer was possibly the abysmal low to which the state of affairs in DU have descended.”, Habib, a Professor of Physics at Miranda House, commented.

The statement by the alliance claimed that 80% of serving ad hoc teachers have been displaced in the interviews held recently, most of them in colleges headed by the Principals close to the ruling dispensation.

I have been part of Delhi University all my life. I have been an ad-hoc teacher and was thrown out so I understand how it feels. I can connect to the pain of the people who have been ousted. Regularisation of ad-hoc teachers would be one of our main agendas.” – mentioned Misra, a professor at Dyal Singh College.

On Friday, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi expressed displeasure over the non-release of Rs.100 crore to Delhi Government’s 12 fully-funded DU colleges after a representation was submitted by Dr.Aditya Narain Misra and DU Executive Council (EC) members Seema Das and Rajpal Singh appraising her of the delay.

On 28th June 2023, I approved the release of Rs 100 crore as the second quarterly grant was announced. But this fund has not reached colleges yet despite one and a half months having lapsed. The faculty and the ministerial staff of these colleges cannot suffer due to administrative technicalities and the finance department should have a facilitatory approach over these financial issues. Hence, the funds should be released without any further delay.”- Atishi said in an official statement.

D.U.T.A Press Conference held on August 25 – D.U.T.A. Press Conference, Save Public Funded Education

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Manvi Goel

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Teachers’ Forum Condemns DU over Displacement of Ad Hoc Faculty

By DU Beat May 3, 2023

On Monday, May 1, the Indian National Teachers’ Congress (INTEC) condemned the displacement of ad hoc teachers of Delhi University. Additionally, it demanded that there be no further displacements. In colleges of the University, where officiating principals are present, the forum demanded that selection interviews be undertaken immediately.

According to sources, around 75% of Ad Hoc faculty were left jobless despite having worked in colleges of the University for decades. In a statement issued by INTEC, chairman Pankaj Garg reportedly spoke about the lack of transparency in interviews for permanent positions at the University.

From the very beginning, the teacher selection process in various constituent colleges had become a mockery. Interviews were taken for two to three minutes and selections were made, which reflected nepotism and favouritism.

-Dr. Pankaj Garg, chairman of INTEC

Teachers who have already been displaced have claimed that the recruitment procedure and University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines prioritise the interview over teaching experience or prior research.

“When a long-serving ad hoc teacher, after displacement, goes to another college for interviews, they are humiliated by asking the reason behind them not being selected in the college they were working in. Ad hoc teachers working in colleges where officiating principals are present are feeling insecure as there has been no initiative of conducting interviews in their colleges so far.” – Garg, also a mathematics teacher at Rajdhani College, DU.

The forum also asked for the posting of advertising of job openings for teachers in the 12 DU colleges that receive funding from the Delhi government. These include Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, and Maharaja Agrasen College among others.

“The executive council had said that the interview process in colleges where officiating principals are present should also begin. It is under process and scrutiny of applications is on. As for the 12 colleges that are funded by the Delhi government, we are awaiting the list of members for the governing body and hence, we have not been able to begin the process in those colleges.”

– Prof.Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor of DU.

The unfortunate reported suicide of the late Mr. Samarveer Singh has brought back attention to the ad hoc displacement crisis, which started in September 2022. Mr. Singh was fired, after more than five years of service as an assistant professor of philosophy at Hindu College, amidst the ongoing interview process for permanent positions. Teachers and students have expressed their outrage at the situation and continue to demand justice.

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Manvi Goel

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DU Teachers Stage Protest for Absorption of Ad-Hoc Teachers

By Sanika Singh April 13, 2023

On Monday, April 10, the teachers and various teacher organisations of Delhi University staged a protest during an Executive Council meeting, demanding the absorption of ad-hoc and temporary teachers along with the formation of governing bodies in Delhi government-funded DU colleges.

The members of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) protested outside the vice chancellor’s office while the Executive Council meeting was underway. They were joined by the teachers’ wing of the Aam Adami Party, the Academics for Action and Development Delhi Teachers’ Association (AADTA). The demonstration included two members of the Executive Council itself, Seema Das and Rajpal Singh Pawar, who are also associated with AADTA. The primary issue raised was that of the displacement of ad-hoc teachers, leading to dire financial conditions and job insecurity.

“The ousting of long-serving teachers is inhumane and promotes social insecurity in the working of the ad-hoc teaching community, which is not in the interest of the academic environment, teachers, and the community.”

—AK Bhagi, Delhi University Teachers’ Association President

They demanded the absorption of displaced teachers and additionally called for the formation of governing bodies in colleges funded by the Delhi government, claiming that the “arbitrary displacements” had been a result of the absence of governing bodies.

“DU has been reneging on its promise of no displacement and warned that this is leading to the harassment of thousands of ad-hoc and temporary teachers working in the colleges of the University.”

—Seema Das, Executive Council Member and Member of AADTA

Displacement of ad-hoc teachers has been a pressing issue in the varsity, as data gathered by some University teachers suggests that nearly 76% of ad-hoc teachers have been displaced. Of the 615 ad-hoc teachers who were interviewed for permanent positions in various colleges, it is estimated that nearly 465 have been displaced as of April 8. Many of them have been teaching for several years, some even decades and nearing retirement.

“You cannot displace them in just two minutes. What will happen to them? Where will they go? Many of these teachers are above 40 and some are even nearing retirement. They provided their services despite knowing that they were not going to receive any facilities that the permanent staff do. We have been abandoned by the University and left in a lurch.”

— An anonymous ad-hoc teacher who was displaced recently

Some teachers alleged lack of transparency in the interview process, saying that they were not selected despite having experience and academic publications.

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Sanika Singh
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Humour – But The Cost?

By Anwesh Banerjee September 15, 2021

On the occasion of Teacher’s Day here is looking at one of the most loved scenes of comedy, from one of the most beloved comedies of our times and asking if we realise the cost of the humour we so amply glorify.

It was genuinely all fun and games.

Every time people, peers, and elders, would sit down to discuss 3 Idiots, the film, invariably the Teacher’s Day speech would come up. Look at how Rancho so smartly explains his point to Raju. Did you see how Chatur was put in place? Serves him right. Love watching Virus being put in his place, it’s such fun!

Growing up around people who revered the now cult classic as a rip-roaring comedy on the farcical nature of our education system and parental expectations from children, aspects of the film ever hardly struck me as odd. Until recently while speaking to one of my high-school teachers I was pleasantly taken aback to hear,

I have no respect for a film that makes such comedy out of a public humiliation of teachers and that too by making them the butt end of rape jokes. It is obscene and crude.

Here was a man, a teacher at that, who disliked what is arguably one of the most impactful and successful films of recent years. Not because it spoke about herd mentality, and emphasised excellence over success, but because of the way it treated it’s teachers in the process of proving a point.

Of course not all teachers deserve to be worshipped on altars. Some are mean, insensitive and just bad at their job. But is it okay to make an entire nation laugh by making your professor the butt end of rape jokes? Think about it.

The scene in question serves a dual purpose in the narrative of the film. It is to explain to Raju the importance of excellence and enjoying your curriculum as opposed to rote learning the same. But at the same time it is yet another widely lauded vilification of the figure of the nerd, who is close to his professors, knows nothing but studying, is socially awkward and of course is the butt end of bullying and abuse. And in the context of the film, this very same stooge of the professor becomes the instrument by which the cool students get back at the professors they hate so much.

My argument is simple. In no way am I endorsing a cut-throat competitive world or a teaching persona who believes your life is of no worth unless you pursue engineering or medicine. My problem is simple and different. How can we, as a society come together to hate b laughing at them and making them the butt end of rape jokes? The perpetrators of the crime literally go on to celebrate the victory of the same in the next scene and by the end of the film are hailed as heroes. The nerd is the one who is made to appear in poor light.

Humour is tricky business. Comedy is purposely designed to critique societal norms and the establishment but if the core purpose of comedy is to relieve through laughter then isn’t it important to question where that humour or laughter is coming from? Really think about it. Sexual harassment and abuse in academia is a widespread problem across the world. Horror stories of students, male and female, being abused by professors and teachers galore. We all have that one friend who confided in us about that one evening, in one empty tuition class, when the teacher they revered for so long transgressed from all acceptable social norms.

Another, easily overlooked aspect of the scene in question is the use of language as a tool of oppression. The student in question, Chatur, grew up in Pondicherry and Uganda and speaks, quite unconvincingly, broken hindi. How is it alright to use this as an excuse to vilify him and the teachers he so deeply adores? As a student of a university as large as Delhi University, every day I see students from distant parts of the country, struggling to convey the most basic of questions. Why? They do not know Hindi and their English is not perfect. But they still try. And even as they try and helplessly request people to not speak in hindi, there are people in abundance who think it fun to reply to their questions in hindi just for the sake of a few laughs. It is 2021 and yet linguistic chauvinism is a tool of abuse in the student community.

In the post-MeToo scenario, films, especially cult classics like the one in question, need to be recognised for their casual humouring of abuse. As an outcast nerd myself, I do not know how long it will take for society to actually come around to stop vilifying us. But that is a different issue altogether. But what we can start off, as students, is to recognise these instances of trivialisation of deeply troubling issues such as abuse in educational spaces. Our teachers are not without their faults and by god we are part of a deeply fundamentally flawed education system. But really our teachers and by large our students deserve better representation than this.

Now that I think, is it really all fun and games?

Anwesh Banerjee

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Alternative Techniques of Teaching

By Kartik Chauhan September 5, 2019

On this Teacher’s Day, these alternative techniques of teaching give a newer perspective to the rugged old system. They highlight how education system can evolve with the ever-changing world, and keep up with the needs of the 21st century students.

It’s funny how my aunt and I share an age gap of 20 years, and yet she and I studied for our class 12th from the same book. The ideology followed in 1970s is the same that is being used today, even after witnessing an IT, economical and industrial revolution.

The students are often put to the same rat race, with lack of practical and relevant knowledge in pure, blind thirst of marks. This system shapes great cramming skills, but professional ones lack manifold.

Here are few alternative theories of teaching that need to be learnt by our education system:

Flip the classroom:

One of the best alternative teaching methods is implementing a flipped classroom. Rather than lecturing in class, students watch or read lessons at home, and complete hands-on experiences while in class. This helps the student to have their own interpretation of the topic and not feel left out in the class. The “homework” becomes the lesson, and the “lesson” becomes the action! It also gives them enough time to prepare questions and analyse the chapter well.

From the only one to one-to-one:

It’s amusing how countries like Australia have introduced robotics in their national development schemes but India, the country on the frontline of IT revolution is light years behind. One single teacher in a class of 40 students prevents holistic learning of each student, also adding pressure on the one teacher to reach all the students. Using personal technology as a tool will be a great boon. This could include the use of interactive websites, web quests, videos, and other activities, and could even be utilised as a tool for quick formative assessments and class dialogue. Many research have shown that because of class pressure, many students even hesitate to ask questions, this is a great alternative for that.

Nawang Dolma, first-year Philosophy student, Daulat Ram College said, “My history teacher only teaches in Hindi, which I don’t know well, being from Ladakh. It becomes a huge problem for me in class. I have to go back home and see video lectures in English.”
This method also helps to accommodate diversity in schools and colleges.

Colour scheming, all the way:

A lot of students have a huge problem memorising information, especially in Arts courses. Teaching through the medium of different colours helps in clarity and visual comprehension of information. This also helps in making mind-maps, which get imbibed in the mind much faster and stronger. This alternate method takes you away from the rusty book to a more clarified text.

How Genius is Genius Hour:

An hour dedicated to the practicality of the lesson. Throughout college and school, students always ask this question, “Where will I use this concept?” This hour will answer that question. Not only this, it will help students realise the scope of their text, but will also act as a navigation for their respective careers. A great tool for motivation and rejuvenation. It also helps in putting context to otherwise bundles of just paragraphs written unsystematically. Think how much less annoying Mathematics would’ve been if we had known where trigonometry would work, other than the dreaded exams.

Game-based Learning:
Turning philosophers to gamers is the most experimental ideology of all. This alternative method of teaching, uses games, both offline and online, to familiarise students with a concept. Offline games like playing hide-and-seek in monuments to learn the history of the era combine the exposure of the field trip, while making information more relatable to students. On the other hand, online games have an entire variety to choose from, games like Quiz Up that help in daily assessment, or one of the most popular games that is sure to get students’ attention is the new education edition of Minecraft.

Games will not only help the students learn the content, but also further develop their 21st century skills.

All of these new and contemporary teaching techniques will give rise to a new generation of thinkers who look beyond the old textbooks-notebooks, who are the need in today’s India. Students should be more about being vocationally skill-oriented, than being all about marks. They should be able to have different interpretations and knowledge than that of the ones who passed educational institutions 50 years back. These techniques focus on that very aim.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Chhavi Bahmba

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Year end: Protests that shook DU this academic year

By Shaurya Thapa May 20, 2019

Delhi University has an active atmosphere of protests almost every other week or month. Hence, protests have almost become a part of DU life! Here’s a throwback at some impactful protests that shook DU.

Library Union

Deriving from a letter to the VC (Vice Chancellor) the Delhi University and Colleges Library Employees Association (DUCLEA) protested early in August to initiate the implementation of the Recruitment Rules Review Committee Rules and the ACP/MACP Pay Scale Committee Report. A lot of other demands like removal of library attendance system from college libraries were also raised. However, the familiar stalling of rightful demands has led to the stagnation of the report for over 18 (now 26) months.

Featured Image Credits: Namrata Randhawa for DU Beat

DSJ

Constantly headlining the campus news flash, Delhi School.of Journalism has seen one of its most charged years given to resistance, as yet. The struggles of DSJ students to attain a reasonable quality of education by requesting the concerned authorities to justify the hefty fees were multiple but in vain; ineffective due to delay in “administrative/authoritative approval”. A month later in September, 2018, inability to fulfill the previously promised valid concerns of the students led to another round of suspension of classes and oppression of the crusaders protesting in the DSJ campus.

Feature Image Credits: Neerav

Young India Adhikar March (YIAM)

Inspired by the Kisan Mukti March, this march saw students from all over the country marching from the Red Fort to Parliament Street on the 7th of February.

Featured Image Credits: Jaishree Kumar for DU Beat

People’s March

Barely a fortnight after YIAM, students, teachers and unions marched in solidarity from Mandi house to Parliament Street to protect public higher funded education. The march was led by Delhi University Teachers’ Union (DUTA) along with various other organisations.

Featured Image Credits: Adithya Khanna for DU Beat

V-Tree Protests at Hindu College

On 14 February, massive protests erupted in an attempt to disrupt, if not stop, the annual ‘Virgin Tree pooja’ tradition of Hindu College. Members of Pinjra Tod, SFI and Hindu College Progressive Front jointly protested and clashed against supporters of the pooja, mainly students of the Boys’ Hostel. The protests, widely covered by the media, had led to a few scuffles.

Featured Image Credits- Prateek Pankaj for DU Beat

Mathematics Department Protests

Mass failures in the examinations for MSc Mathematics had rocked the department. They received their results on 8 February and had started protesting on 14 February. The protesters demanded to be shown copies of the answer sheets along with an independent investigation, among other things. Various other departments in addition to the Mathematics Department and organisations like AISA, SFI, KYS, and DSU joined the protests.

Featured Image Credits- Anoushka Sharma for DU Beat

DRC hostel protests

On the 23rd of February, protests broke out at the hostel gate of Daulat Ram College after mishaps at the college hostel and the rampant culture of hatred and sexism. The protesters demanded basic rights which were being violated by the DRC hostel board. The fight continued on to the next day, the 24th, when residents marched from their hostel gate towards the Vice Chancellor’s office and staged a sit down.

Featured Image Credits- Pragati Thapa for DU Beat

DUTA Protests

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association had carried out sustained protests since the beginning of the year and even before that, against issues like the 13 point roster system, privatisation and the needs of ad-hoc teachers. Human chains, candlelight marches, ‘total strikes’ and a ‘Bharat Bandh’ were few of the measures adopted by the association and its supporters. The protests succeeded in bringing an ordinance by the government on 8 March to restore the old 200 point roster system.

Featured Image Credits- DU Beat Archives

Cover Image Credits- Pragati Thapa for DU Beat

Kartik Chauhan

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Jaishree Kumar

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Homeschooling: A New Method of Teaching

By DU Beat May 6, 2019

The world has started seeing a rise in parents adopting the method of homeschooling their kids. Let us understand what it actually is and how it functions.

Homeschooling is a method of schooling adopted by numerous parents across the globe where they choose to educate their children at home instead of sending them to traditional public or private institutions.

Parents follow this route for a variety of reasons like dissatisfaction with the traditional curriculum and methods of teachings at school, lack of progress of their children among others. Padmashree Tapepalli, an education consultant while discussing the reasons which led her to homeschool her kids said, “In a class of 30 students, you can’t expect a teacher to teach according to the need of each of them. She can only follow a single method of teaching within a stipulated time given to her. So, it’s obvious that every child doesn’t get individual attention.”

Though homeschooling has become a common phenomenon in many countries, it is still emerging in India. There is an absolute lack of awareness regarding the method in the country. Government of India doesn’t legally allow homeschooling, but on the other hand, if someone wishes to take his/her kid out of school and homeschool them, the government wouldn’t interfere. Thus, this confusing contradiction has restricted its proliferation even further in India.

Homeschooling has resulted in some shining examples. Sahal Kaushik cracked IIT JEE, at the age of 14 with AIR 33. He was also the first rank holder in Delhi. He was homeschooled by his mother who quit her job as a doctor to focus on her son’s education.

Homeschooling offers a variety of advantages. It opens the possibility of a plethora of innovative learning ideas. Unlike schools, it provides flexible learning timings and atmosphere. Instead of getting mixed in the crowd of numerous students, the child gets undivided focus. Thus, individual student needs can be fulfilled. Apart from learning experiences, it helps strengthen the bond between the parents and the children which otherwise gets weakened due to lack of time spent with each other.

But, homeschooling has also met with certain apprehensions from various corners. Some people strongly object the concept of homeschooling and argue that schools aren’t just about academics but they also inculcate confidence and life skills.

Tania Joshi, Principal of The Indian School said, “As a concept, homeschooling is more popular in the US. In the Indian context, it seems difficult. I do not recommend it. If a parent opts for homeschooling, they have to be of a level where they can match the capacity of three to four individual teachers in a school. Teaching a child is not an easy job and unlike a school, a home does not have the resources.”

Minimal interaction with the outside world and lack of capability among parents to teach their kids distinct subjects are some of the drawbacks of homeschooling.

Homeschooling, as a concept holds immense potential with few cons here and there. Careful regulation and fulfilling the shortcomings might do wonders if homeschooling is adopted as seen in various cases.

Feature Image Credits: Towards Parenthood

Shreya Agrawal

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Bazinga

Bazinga – Seventh Pay Commission Implemented For DU Teachers

By DU Beat September 8, 2018

A long drawn struggle culminated with the authorities implementing the seventh pay commission. Vice Chancellor, Rajeev Javedkar announced the 7th pay commission for all teachers of University of Delhi (DU). The commission would provide a 9% increase in the pay of all teachers.

The director of the Remuneration Managerial Board (RMB), in his statement, said that the government had increased their budget since March. If rather than disrupting classes and protesting, had DUTA tabled a proposal for overall development in a peaceful manner, the issue would have been dealt with earlier. The statement did stir some irritation and unrest among certain teachers, however a predominant feeling of happiness that came after a long successful struggle. Professor Zoya Chaudhry, a Political Science teacher from Lady Shri Ram College For Women said, “Despite being nation builders and educators, our salaries don’t even allow us to access basic amenities, a pay hike at this point is just and a necessity.”

While the mood of the teaching faculty was quite jubilant, a wide range of opinion was brought on the platter by the students. While a number of them sympathise with the teachers, their cause, and talked about how the university needs to further better their conditions, a large number of them were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They felt that teachers bunked classes, weren’t serious about coursework or attendances, barely taught them anything and had a casual attitude so they didn’t understand what the pay hike was for. Sukeerat Kaur Channi, a student of Sri Venkateshwara college stated, “I’m a regular college student yet I’m unaware of who my literature teacher is. An increase in their pay might just encourage this callous attitude.” Yet no talk of mobilisation has come up among those who disagree with this move.

A number of college teachers expressed their jubilation by talking about it in lectures, holding seminars explaining their struggle, having discussions and put across their views regarding the whole saga. The success of this protest has, however, become an inspiration for another section of Delhi university employees, which is the workers and peons in various college. Extremely distressed with their low pays and lack of incentives and services for them, looking up to the success of the teachers’ pay raise, a number of unions have initiated talks to mobilise themselves in a similar manner and push forth their cause to better their lifestyle.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Bhavika Behal
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DUB Speak

Teachers Bunking Classes: Questioning a Common Trend

By DU Beat August 15, 2018

The issues of teachers being unavailable, missing lectures, or cancelling classes last minute is a common problem across the University of Delhi (DU). Where does the problem stem from and what do students think of the same?

Assistant Professors and Professors in the University of Delhi often end up missing classes. For freshers, what is even more fascinating is that while teachers often end up cancelling lectures, they continue to mark the attendance in the attendance register by taking the list of names of the students present from the Class Representative (CR). This makes sure that their attendance records show that a lecture took place, even when it did not. A student of a reputed DU college recalled an incident that throws more light on the same subject. He said, “Usually what happens is that the professor asks the CR to take attendance, which is fairly normal. But one day, I got a call from the professor (being the CR) that the class wouldn’t take place and that I should write the names of the students who showed up physically to study what the professor had to teach. The next day, the professor took the piece of paper with the names of the students and entered the ones present in the respective column for the previous day.”
Another student said, “My professor asks me to randomly mark the attendance, or just copy the names of those present today for a day before, as the professor couldn’t show up due to some unforeseen circumstances.”
A student recalled an incident when his teacher made an excuse regarding his child having a school function which had to be attended. Later, the same teacher was caught red-handed as he had uploaded an Instagram story where he was socialising instead of attending the school function, much to the amusement of the viewer, who was a student. These lies do injustice to working parents, who, at times, skip work to be present for the milestones of their children.
The issue of online attendance has been a long standing problem. The teaching fraternity is largely averse to it because it will effectively act as a check-and-balance system that will monitor them just as much as it will monitor students. A professor from a prominent college on being asked about his views on online attendance, stated, “Most of the teachers at this college oppose the trend of online attendance, because then it won’t only be the attendance for you kids, but also for us teachers.”
While there are genuine reasons for teachers to miss classes, they have also been unwittingly subjected to multiple duties in college, which makes them feel overburdened. Since it is a legitimate problem, it cannot be solved through temporary fixes, and certainly not at the cost of compromising the teaching hours for the student body. A senior professor, when asked about the multiple duties he had to perform, he exclaimed, “A single person is made the head of various departments and asked to perform the duties for all of them. Being it taking interviews for ad-hoc teaching positions, to looking into a fight that broke out due to some party nuisance. Sometimes I need to miss classes in order to complete pending work.”
However, a third year student of Bachelors in Mathematical Sciences from Keshav Mahavidyalaya stated, “ Teachers in our college are very strict when it comes to studies, so they show up in classes almost all the time and miss them only if they have some extremely important work to do.”

This shows that while some teachers scarcely miss classes, others do it for frivolous reasons. The issue of teachers being overworked is a genuine one, but missing classes to complete pending work is a great disservice to the student body and to the art of teaching.

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat.

Dev Chopra

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