The ambitious four-year undergraduate course of Delhi University is a reality now. The Executive Council, supreme body of the university, gave its nod to all ordinances and courses on Thursday.
“An overwhelming majority of 19 out of 21 in the Executive Council and 86, excluding six members, in the Academic Council have accorded due approvals to the new courses and syllabi. These include scheme of examination, evaluation and other consequent amendments to ordinances to introduce the four-year programme from this academic year,” said Alka Sharma, university registrar.
Under the new ordinances, students of Delhi University will be able to finish their degrees in a span of 10 years, instead of six as decided in the earlier proposal. This was decided at a 30-hour meeting of the Academic Council, which went on till 2 am on Thursday.
“A total of 57 courses, including 11 foundation courses and foreign languages like German, French, Italian and Spanish were approved for the new programme. “Students can now finish their degrees in 10 years. They will also be eligible to get their Bachelor Honours/BTech degrees by scoring an aggregate of 40 per cent instead of the earlier required aggregate of 50 per cent,” said Umesh Rai, Director of the South Campus and a member of the Executive Council. Rai added that the syllabus for courses will be reviewed annually and changes to be made accordingly.
Other significant decisions taken in the meeting included allowing students to opt for any of the four application courses irrespective of the subject background they belong to.
“A student with science background can choose an application course of the commerce department. Students will have more choice,” he added. Students will also be eligible for an MA under Delhi University if they choose to do six papers on the same minor subjects.
“Our comments were not counted at all. They decided all ordinances in matter of few hours. It was imported that the members should have been given a copy of the courses for study. The argument is that the four-year structure is a flawed one and the courses have been passed in a hurry,” said Abha Dev Habib, another member of the Executive Council.
The Council also approved changes in the university ordinances, including changes in nomenclature of degrees and admissions under reserved categories. The four-year programme with multiple degree options will entail a shift from the present 10+2+3 scheme to a four-year graduation with multiple exit points.