The teachers’ union at Delhi University have heightened their struggle for the rollback of four years undergraduate programme (FYUP), which was the part of Aam Aadmi Party’s manifesto.
A member of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), Abha Dev Habib said that she has written to the Union Education Minister Manish Sisodia asking for a discussion on the FYUP, appointment of teachers and 90 per cent quota for local students in colleges funded by the Delhi government.
“Adding up an extra year is a huge financial and resource burden on the university, students spend so much time on foundational courses,” she said, explaining that the four year programme has been counterproductive. “In order to get an honours degree, students will have to wait for an extra year,” she added.
Even though the university is hiring teachers to fill up vacancies, Habib said that the norms of University Grants Commission (UCG) are not being followed -- bringing down the quality of teaching. She also pointed out that the university has ‘skipped’ reservation policy for SC/ST candidates.
DUTA has also opposed 90 per cent reservation for Delhi University students. “There could be 17,000 seats in 12 fully funded colleges of Delhi University,” said Habib, pointing out that it will not entirely solve the problem for over one lakh Delhi students who vie to be student of Delhi University.
“It is also opposed to the Delhi University charter. These 12 colleges, which is part of Delhi University, are mostly off-campus colleges where primarily students from Delhi study. Students from other states mainly opt for campus colleges,” she added.
Her association also argues that the 90 quota in a central university is in opposition to creating ‘equal opportunity’ for students. “Delhi is city of migrants, making it difficult to determine who qualifies for the quota,” Habib argued.