Where on one hand students were celebrating the expected rollback of FYUP, several students studying under the newly-introduced BTech programmes in Delhi University voiced their concerns against the rollback.
Their main contention is that the four-year BTech course is now being changed to BSc, which goes against their purpose of joining the university.According to Shobit Agarwal, a student of BTech in Computer Science at Hansraj College, the three-year undergraduate programme (TYUP) will be the biggest deterrent for him. “I want to go ahead and pursue MTech. I can’t do that unless I get a BTech degree first. If the course is converted to BSc, I will lose the opportunity forever. I can’t even drop out as I will no longer be eligible for my IIT-JEE mains,” he said.
Another student adds that he didn’t have the fund to pursue BTech in a private university. “I am not from a rich family who can spend lakhs on my education. DU gave me a chance to pursue BTech at a reasonable rate. However, now I won’t know what to do as my degree may not be recognised altogether,” added Rohit Sharma.
This matter was also brought up in the Standing Committee meeting with the UGC. Aman Awana, DU Students’ Union (DUSU) president and member of the committee said, “We have requested the UGC to retain BTech. However, no call has been taken on that yet.”
Meanwhile, there were a few BTech students who didn’t care about the rollback. Harish Gautam from Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce said, “Joining this course was a mistake. Right from the beginning there was very little interest shown in this course. Teachers of BSc have been teaching us BTech. It will actually be better if the course is removed.”