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Scrapping of NET exam, Six percent qualification cap draws ire of students

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Students and aspiring college teachers from across different universities staged a protest outside the University Grants Commission (UGC) office on June 16, 2017. The protest demonstration was against the scrapping of the National Eligibility Test (NET) in July.

Earlier in January, the University Grants Commission (UGC) decided to scrap the National Eligibility Test (NET) exam scheduled for July 2017 and shifted it to November 19. This meant that the NET exam in December won’t take place this year. The exam that was held twice a year and conducted for 83 subjects at multiple locations across the country, will now onwards only be held once a year.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which has been holding the test since 2014, had last week notified that the NET would be held in November. Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, chairman of CBSE, wrote to the HRD ministry resonating that due of heavy workload the JRF exam should be held just once a year. The exam in which over 5 lakh candidates take the exam every year, has been held twice a year since it was started in 1984.

The protesting students also raised concerns over the reduction of the cap to qualify for NET at 6 per cent from the 15 per cent earlier. They have also started a “Save NET exam” online petition, which will be submitted to the UGC. The petition can be found here. 

Demonstrators said that holding it once a year will increase pressure on students. They attributed the reduction in qualifying percentage is part of a bigger plan where the government is enervating public funded education, by scuttling funds and seat cuts.

Feature Image credits: DU Fights back fb page

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]

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St. Stephen's

Despite opposition, St. Stephen’s administration to go ahead with bid for autonomy

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At a hastily convened meeting of the Governing Body of St. Stephens College to discuss the issue of autonomous status for the college today, the decision to go ahead with the proposal was agreed to in principle, despite the opposition of four members of the Governing Body. This meeting of the GB was met with a huge silent protest from students, teachers, and the non-teaching staff of the college. Students who demanded that they, and the teachers, should be consulted by the authorities before they decide to go ahead with applying for autonomy, held placards and posters with slogans like ‘Discuss, not Decide,’ and ‘Come, Communicate, Convince’ written on it. This protest by the students was also supported by a protest outside the college gate by members of the Delhi University Teachers Association.

Placards with discuss not decide written on them
Placards with discuss not decide written on them

 

“More than 500 students of St. Stephen’s College gathered in the Senior Combination Room lawns to stand up for their rights, for the entire college community. The students and the faculty stood in protest as a consensus of all stakeholders is necessary before a Governing Body Meeting regarding application for granting of autonomous status to St. Stephen’s College is convened,” says a press release issued on behalf of the students of the college. The students also alleged that one of the GB members, who is a University representative, claimed that he came to know about the meeting from the newspapers and learned that his signature was forged on arriving at the venue. The students demanded that the process of achieving autonomous status be halted until a consensus is reached among all students, teachers and non-teaching staff.

Meanwhile, at the GB meeting, the teacher representatives, including DUTA President Nandita Narain, pointed out that even the UGC Guidelines stipulated prior consultation with students and teachers before applying for autonomy, after which the GB voted in majority to move ahead with autonomy in principle, but follow the procedure laid down for consultation before sending the application to the University. DUTA also staged a protest outside the college and said that this is a move by the government towards privatisation. “We want academic and governance autonomy for the University but not autonomy for the constituent colleges. We will not let anything happen without consensus and will oppose the move,” said AK Bhagi, an Executive Council member.

On the evening of February 26, in another press release on the website of St. Stephen’s College, Prof. John Varghese, the principal of the college said, “Autonomy will deliver higher standards of excellence in academics through new courses that will enhance the employability of the students. It will help the college grow intellectually as well as increase the infrastructure that has seen minimal growth since the 1960s.” The press release confirmed that the GB voted in majority to pass a resolution which will authorise the principal of the college to make all arrangements for getting the college ‘autonomous status.’

Students and Faculty members during the protest
Students and Faculty members during the protest

Earlier this year, after UGC came out with new provisions for granting autonomous status to institutions, St. Stephens decided to apply for autonomy. Other colleges including Hindu, SRCC, Ramjas, Sri Venkateswara College and Hansraj have approached the University for granting them greater autonomy.

Although autonomy will allow colleges the freedom to decide their own syllabus, course and examination patterns, this will also make the college responsible for raising its own funds which may result in a sharp increase in the fees that students pay. This is a prime concern, since many students come from different backgrounds, and may not be able to afford the exorbitant fee hike if the college goes autonomous.

 

Image Credits: Students of St. Stephens College

 

Srivedant Kar

[email protected]

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Top Picks

5 Controversies of 2016 which every DU student should know

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So here we are, having survived 2016, with all the swag and luster, at Delhi University. This year shall be remembered in the academic vicinity for various reasons. As for the freshers and rest alike, whether you were basking in the carelessness of the post-war (pun intended) vacation or were getting yourselves squeezed in the queue for hours together in the ruthless Northern summer after overnight brainstorming to dismantle the enigma of the Delhi University cut offs, detrimental things were going on around you.
If you failed to pay heed to these developments, we come up with 5 controversies which made the year.

1. Something which took freshers by surprise was the boycott of the admission process by the faculty. Later, we learnt of the boycott of the evaluation process itself. This was all in response of the University Grants Commission (UGC) gazette notification, which intended to raise the working hours. Since we ended up being taught, the crisis must have been resolved.

2. The Delhi University election sent shock waves throughout September. The guidelines against the usage of paper pamphlets fell to the deaf ears of the young candidates as is the pollution in Diwali to Delhi-ites. Three out of four posts, including that of president, were bagged by ABVP, RSS’s student outfit, amidst cries of foul play by NSUI. The 4th October pictures of Amit Tanwar, the president, posing with guns in the varsity campus deepened the charges of hooliganism and criminalisation of DU politics, reducing our expectations from our leaders which had already been weakened by all the freebies.

3. The ceiling collapse on 30th August at Daulat Ram College was the frightful realisation of long time fears of all the 63 DU colleges. This incident brought into national focus the hollow claims about the infrastructure and raised many questions. Students came out on the streets asking for more washrooms, basic sanitation facilities and better heed to grievances from immediate effect.

4. 2016, to an extent, saw the Pinjra Tod movement, an initiative which grew out of a Facebook page in August, 2015 to champion the causes of women in hostels and PG, yield results. In response to the countless protest marches, curfews have been slackened, leading to the removal of guardian’s permission for leave, among many other feats. But as Sabika Naqvi rightly maintains, there is a long long way to go.

5. On 8th November, DU professor Nandini Sundar was booked on the alleged charges of murder of a tribal man Shamnath Baghel in Sukma district of Chattisgarh. She called the allegations ‘absurd’ and fittingly no new development seems on the plate.Interstingly, this is not her maiden face off with Bastar Inspector General Kalluri. Nandini Sundar had been the whistle-blower in the alleged atrocities at the hands of security forces. Earlier this year, her trip to Bastar under the alias of Richa Keshav had already flaked controversies.

Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]

Image credits: www.123rf.com

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Campus Central

Semester Exam evaluation stalled as DUTA protest continues

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In a recent press release, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has decided to continue its boycott of the recent semester exams evaluation till 16th June 2016, when the General Body (GB) will convene again to review the situation. The protest is in response to a notification by the UGC giving nod to the implementation of the  Academic Performance Indicators (API) system and other amendments that DUTA calls ‘retrogressive’ and an ‘attack’ on the higher education system of the country. This is a setback for the graduating students of the varsity as this has put on hold the post-graduate admissions to the varsity and might even stall the declaration of the semester exam results. Calling the gazette notification ‘draconian’, the DUTA has gone far to claim that if the government fails to roll back the notification, it might consider boycotting the admission process as well. The API system allows for teachers to be evaluated on the basis of students’ performance, a manoeuvre DUTA has called ‘unreasonable’.  Given the increase in the working hours of assistant professors from 16 hours to 24 cumulative hours and of associate professors from 14 to 22 cumulative hours, the DUTA claims that such a move will result in the loss of over 4,000 jobs and will work against the interests of both teachers and students. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in contrast to its previous position has demanded an immediate rollback of the notification and urged the teaching community to ‘resume evaluation work immediately’ to avoid compromise of the students. Agreeing to one of the demands of the protesting teachers, the UGC, on 10th June 2016, decided to set up a 5 member pay revision committee for academic staff. The committee will be chaired by UGC member Prof. V S Chauhan and will submit its report in six months. With no end in sight, the UGC has claimed that the system will bring ‘more flexibility’ to the academic environment and ruled out any claims of loss of jobs due to it. Image Credits: www.tribuneindia.com   Sidharth Yadav [email protected]]]>

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Jesus and Mary College

Department of Commerce, JMC organizes UGC sponsored National Business Convention

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On 17th and 18th March, Department of Commerce, JMC organized the National Business Convention, sponsored by University Grants Commission (UGC). With 19 eminent speakers as panelists, the two day long convention was attended by around 700 students, delegates, faculty, scholars and corporates from various colleges and corporations across Delhi NCR. The convention was based on the topic – ‘Online Retailing: A Paradigm shift in India’s Retailing Scenario’. The chief guest for the event, Dr Sangeeta Saxena (Additional Economic Advisor, Ministry of Commerce and Industry) along with the principal Sr. Marina inaugurated the session after which Mr Yashish Dahiya (CEO, Policy Bazaar.com) delivered the keynote address.

The technical Track I was chaired by Mr Nikhil Arora (Startup Advisor, Intuit India) and had Dr A.K Manocha (Chairman and Managing Director, IRCTC), Mr Anshuman Bapna (Chief Products Officer, makemytrip.com) and Mr Rana Atheya (Founder, Dogspot) as speakers who spoke on the theme – ‘Imitation to innovation : The Growth Story of Online Retailer’.

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The technical track II was based on the theme – ‘Online Retailing Wars, Survival of the fittest or Survival of the Richest. Chaired by Ms Vishaka Bhattacharya from NASSCOM, The session witnessed Ms Arshiya Takkar (Director, TacFab Fashion) and Ms Neha Kant (Founder, Clovia.com) as the guest speakers. Talking about her business, Ms Takkar explained why the fundamental basics in any business model should be the priority. She also emphasized on the importance of online marketing and physical stores as a way to reach out to the target consumers. According to the other speaker, Ms Neha Kant, “Huge discounts get first buyers but maintaining loyal customers requires quality of products and services.”

The next day, hosted the third and final Technical Session which had Dr Arvind Gupta (Co-founder, Digital India Foundation) on the chair. The theme for the discussion was, ‘Localising Commerce-Hyper Local Startups’ and the guest speakers included Mr Parag Agarwal (Global Head, Marketing, Hero Motor Corporations), Mr Fahad Moti Khan (Founder,BitGiving), Mr Praveen Singh (Business Head, MBD Group) and Mr Kapil Mohan, (Consultant and Incubator, E Commerce Startups). Mr Arvind Gupta covered areas like IRCTC, Digital India, E-Mandis, etc while Mr Parag Aggarwal focused on the automobile section of E-commerce. He also expressed the problems customers and online marketers face while trading with automobiles online. Expressing his thoughts on Education, the next speaker, Mr Praveen said that ‘Internet for all’ should replace the vision of ‘Education for all’.

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The event concluded with the Valedictory Session, chaired by Dr VK Singh (Former Head and Dean, Gurukul Kangri University) delivered followed by the vote of thanks by Dr Jyotsana Sethi, Associate Professor, JMC.

Lovleen Kaur

[email protected]

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Daulat Ram College

English Department, DRC organises National Conference on Migration and Identity: The Urban Subject

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The Department of English, Daulat Ram College, organised a UGC sponsored National Conference on the topic, Migration and Identity: The Urban Subject. It was a two day event held on January 28 and 29.

The conference discussed the topic in question comprehensively by investigating various literary works to realise the importance of the topic and to find out how migration is shaping our lives- knowingly and unknowingly.

The first day of the conference began with an inaugural ceremony where the Head of the department and Convenor of the conference, Dr. Deepshikha Mahanta, welcomed all the esteemed guests. She also thanked the college Principal Dr. Savita Roy for her constant guidance and help. The keynote speech was given by Prof. Avadesh Kumar Singh, professor of Translation Studies at Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

This was followed by various sessions where the invited students and scholars from all over the country presented papers and indulged in fruitful discussions. Topics such as Migration and Labour, Migration, History and Gender, Migration and Identity, and Migration and the Subaltern were discussed. These discussions  were chaired by respected guests namely Prof. B.P. Sahu (Dept. of History, DU), Dr. Shimi Doley (Jamia Milia Islamia) and Hany Babu (Dept. of English, DU).

There was also a movie screening of a film called Essential Arrival by Prof. Ariva Javed, Dept. of Sociology, Wayne State University, Detroit. The day ended with a short play on migration by Memesis, the dramatics society of Daulat Ram College.

Day 2 saw discussion on topics such as Migration and the Urban Question, Politics of Migration, and Narratives of Migration chaired by distinguished guests which included professors from various universities. The day came to an end with a Valedictory session where everyone congratulated each other for pulling off a successful event and hoped to organise more such productive and rewarding conferences in the future.

“I believe the conference taught us both, academically and practically and we all just hope our guests and audience enjoyed participating in the conference as much we enjoyed organising it” said Sanya Dhingra, the Cultural Secretary of the English department.

 

Image Credits: Sepia, The Photography and Film society of Daulat Ram College

Nishita Agarwal

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

#OccupyUGC: Education is not for sale

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As we celebrated the New Year, the #OccupyUGC movement entered its 72nd day of protests. Amidst police brutality and lack of interest shown by both the government and media, we at DU Beat try to explain the origin, progress and current status of the OccupyUGC movement.

How it all began

On October 7th 2015, the University Grants Commission (UGC) held a meeting set a report that stated that the Expert Committee had decided to discontinue the non-NET Fellowship. To realize the magnitude of the decision, one needs to be aware of what UGC, NET, JRF and the non-NET fellowship are.

University Grants Commission of India (UGC) is a statutory organisation set up by the Union government in 1956, with mandate for coordination and maintenance of standards of university education.

Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is offered by UGC to the eligible and selected candidates through written exams as their stipend for doctoral studies or for their assistance in various projects. UGC offers a limited number of fellowships in all the disciplines – Arts, Humanities, Commerce etc. through its own UGC-National Eligibility Exam, known as NET, and in five natural science disciplines through Joint CSIR-UGC-NET exam held by CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research)

The UGC Non-National Eligibility Test (UGC Non-NET) Fellowship Scheme was started in 2008. It grants a research fellowship to scholars in central universities, who may have cracked NET but not the JRF or those who haven’t cracked NET but are still eligible to pursue their research. The UGC Non-NET Fellowship grants scholars a stipend of a meager Rs. 8000 as compared to Rs. 25000 for scholars who’ve cracked the JRF exam.

Thus with the decision of slashing the non-NET Fellowship, UGC has decided to stop the monetary support for fellows pursuing doctoral research studies. The stipend through fellowships will only be given to the top 15 per cent of the people who appear for NET. This leaves 35,000 students awaiting fellowship across the country, in the dark.

Protestors making graffiti at ITO Metro Station | Source: thecompanion.in

The protests

Students affected by the decision have been protesting in New Delhi’s ITO Area since October 2015. On 21st October, students from various universities led by JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union) decided to conduct an indefinite gherao of the UGC office at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. The Police and paramilitary forces did not comply, leading to lathicharge. Protestors were picked up early morning on 23rd October, and taken to Bhalswa Dairy Police Station, North Delhi, about 20 kilometres away from the protest site.

It was not just the Police with their water cannons and sound bombs, however, but also Akhil Bhartiya Vidya Parishad (ABVP) who threw stones and bottles on peacefully protesting students on 24th October.

Water cannons being used against the protestors. | Source: iamin.in

On 26th October, an order from MHRD was released which said a review committee will be formed which will have the mandate to introduce ‘economic or other’ criteria to introduce the fellowships. The students however demand the fellowships for all students.Moreover, the review committee has no student or teacher representative.

On November 7th 2015, students from different universities marched from ITO to MHRD office in protest. Following the march, HRD Minister Smriti Irani agreed to meet representatives of students to discuss their demands. However, a firm decision is yet to take place.

 

A larger fight against privatization of education

It is suspected that this removal of educational subsidies has a larger reason, privatization of education. Since 1980s, India has seen a major revolution in the education sector, with as much as 64% of higher education being private.

In 2005 India agreed to World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trades and Services (GATS). GATS is a WTO Trade agreement that is designed to limit government authority on trade.

Graffiti outside ITO Metro Station | Source: dailyo.in

India going through GATS would mean foreign countries would be setting up shops in the education sector as for-profit ventures, and as per WTO guidelines, these foreign university setups will have to be given national treatment. It naturally means that our central universities and these foreign university setups would be kept at par, and will receive equal education subsidies, if any. Under GATS, there would be no means of ensuring that only high-quality universities enter the country, nor would there be any means of controlling the cost of education they provide.

Giving education subsidies to foreign universities seems bleak given the country’s education budget, therefore it would mean cutting already-present education subsidies.

The Occupy UGC Movement is thus facing a much larger fight against the privatization of education sector.

 

Kartikeya Bhatotia

[email protected]

 

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News

UGC asks colleges not to appoint ad-hoc teachers

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On Wednesday, 21st May, 2014, the University Grant Commission (UGC) sent letters to many colleges and departments of Delhi University, asking not to appoint ad hoc teachers since the salary of these teachers is not pertinent according to the commission’s guidelines.

As per the letter, the vacant posts those are presently filled by the ad hoc teachers should be allotted to contract or substitute teachers and these appointed teachers will be given full salary except allowances, gratuity and increment. Guest or part time teachers may be appointed against the posts falling vacant due to retirement, death or resignation. There is an approximate of 5000 ad hoc teachers appointed in the university who are being affected by this change.

“All ad hoc teachers arein state of panic and this process that UGC is asking for is completely illegal. According to the UGC, the ad hoc teachers will get full salary except the allowances which almost halves their salary. This is very disadvantageous” says Nandita Narain, President of DUTA. Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) had asked for the withdrawal of the letter and a clarification to be issued respectively. The executive committee of DUTA also called emergency meetings on 22nd and 23rd of May to delve into the matter in detail.

“We want to know the grounds on which UGC has sent these letters to the colleges because there is no transparency. There is huge contradiction between what UGC says and what is being done by university. We have written to UGC, the university and various colleges. UGC is ready to give the clarification in written form, most probably on Tuesday, 27th of May,” she added.

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Campus Central

Biometric Attendence for Teachers Quite a Possibility

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Last month, the court had issued a notice to DU authorities after a PIL was filed by the Indian Council of Legal Aid and Advice, seeking to introduce a biometric system to register the attendance of lecturers and other teaching staff of the university. The PIL said that the attendance system should be introduced to ensure that a teacher “adheres to the teaching hours and days prescribed by the UGC and the university rules”. As per the UGC norms, the workload of teachers should not be less than 40 hours a week for 180 teaching days, apart from being available for at least five hours daily in the college. The working hours actually put in by a lecturer in Delhi University daily are just about three and half hours per day currently.

The affidavit filed by the registrar said: “The University of Delhi is committed to adopt and implement measures which are favourable and beneficial to the university system as a whole, such as the biometric system of attendance for its teachers in order to ensure their presence in colleges and ensure the participation of all teachers in the teaching/learning process.” Emphasising on the perquisites of teachers the affidavit read, “The teachers after the implementation of sixth pay commission have lucrative pay packets and are expected to fully justify the trust and confidence reposed by the society on them by working tirelessly for the betterment of the taught so as to prepare them for facing the challenges of life with confidence and knowledge.” The plea also stated that it seemed that the university was not implementing the biometric system under pressure from teachers’ unions. The university had tried to introduce the system in 2009, but had to hastily withdraw the order after Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) went on strike in protest.

This time around however, Delhi University has assured the Delhi High Court that it would adopt and implement the biometric attendance system for teachers to ensure punctuality. Following the assurance, the court disposed of the plea saying, “On the assurance given by the university, the court hopes and expects that biometric system of attendance would be introduced expeditiously.” The teachers are not expected to stall the move, which is aimed at uplifting the standards of teaching facilities.

 

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected] 

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Campus Central

Sri Venkateswara, Gargi stripped of 'Potential for Excellence' tag

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Thirteen colleges including two renowned Delhi University colleges namely Gargi and Sri Venkateswara affiliated to UGC have been struck off from the status of ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ for not being re-accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Sri Venkateswara and Gargi were two of the 47 colleges that were awarded ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ status in 2004 by the University Grants Commission. The other colleges in the list include Ch.S.D.St.Theresa’s College for Women (Andhra Pradesh), M.N.C.Balika Mahavidyalaya (Assam), St. Xavier’s College (Ranchi), Mount Carmel College (Bengaluru), St. Agnes College (Mangalore), Padmashri Vikhe Patil College of Arts, Science & Comerce (Ahmednagar), St. Anthony’s College (Meghalaya), Khallikote College (Orissa), Fakir Mohan College (Orissa), S.G.N. Khalsa College (Rajasthan), and Pt. L.M.S. Govt. Post Graduate College (Uttaranchal) The principal of Gargi college, Meera Ramachandran said, “Though we have not been informed officially by the UGC, as no copy of such a letter has been received by the college yet, it is highly unfortunate that the college has to be penalized as the accreditation by NAAC has to be taken care by DU and not independently by colleges. Even after living up to the title and conducting many projects, it is highly disheartening”. On asking if there was anything that was being done to make amends, she further exclaimed that further steps, if any, would be taken only after the receiving of the official letter.  ]]>

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