DU launches 4th-year UG course, but lack of infra, teachers haunts colleges

As Delhi University (DU) gets ready to welcome its first fourth-year undergraduate batch under the National Education Policy (NEP), the biggest issue facing it is a lack of infrastructure.

Even now, several colleges run classes in porta cabins and makeshift arrangements. With another batch coming, the problem is set to become even more acute.

DU Registrar Vikas Gupta told The Federal that “everybody has enough infrastructure to run fourth-year easily”. However, colleges paint a different picture.

Read Part 1: Delhi University's maiden 4th-year UG students caught in the crossroads

Worry of accommodating fourth year

Take, for example, the case of the prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). In 2007, the main building of the college was awarded the status of a heritage building by the Delhi government. As a result, it cannot expand at will. Now, the college administration is worried about how it will accommodate the fourth year.

“We have not been granted expansion and we don’t have any ground coverage or floor area ratio, so that is a major concern. Because, without infrastructural expansion, accommodating more students will certainly be a big challenge. We have absolutely no idea what to do right now except to increase the timetable hours. Already, the principal’s bungalow, some hostel rooms and porta cabins are being used as classrooms, so it is a major challenge, but we hope to work around it,” SRCC principal Simrit Kaur told The Federal.

According to her, in the latest survey conducted by the college, about 60 per cent students responded, and about 50 per cent of them said they would like to come back for the fourth year.

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If infrastructure is present, teachers an issue

Some colleges said they have space, but it would take time for those to be ready for use. “We have a fifth floor, which is not being utilised, but we will need more time to make it useful in terms of furniture, etc. It’s a huge hall, which can be turned into a lab or small classroom. But right now, we can’t predict what will be the exact requirement,” said Ramjas College principal Ajay Arora.

In a few colleges, infrastructure is not an issue. However, there are concerns about arranging extra teachers. “We will have to appoint some guest teachers, which we will do. That is the only worry. We will talk to the Delhi government to see if they can give us the funds; otherwise, we will try to find some other source. Infrastructurally, we have no issue. We have enough classrooms and labs, and all teachers have been given a cubicle,” said Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) College principal Hem Chand Jain.

The question of time

It’s not just the case in DDU but across the university. As a fresh batch comes in, the question is — who will teach them? And will DU students and teachers have to stay on campus from 8 am to 8 pm? According to University Grants Commission norms, assistant professors have to teach for 16 hours and associate professors for 14 hours a week. Now, teachers say, these hours are going to increase drastically.

Also read: DU college principal coats classroom with cow dung for ‘research’

“Students will be doing four papers apart from research. Those four papers will have their own busy schedules. So, when will the research happen? We will essentially see both students and teachers in college from 8 am to 8 pm, which is ridiculous. Especially in far-off colleges, it will become a safety issue for female students. Where will students and teachers find time for extracurricular and co-curricular activities, which is an important part of the educational experience, in such a schedule?” pointed out Abha Dev Habib, a physics teacher at Miranda House and secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF).

The safety aspect

A teacher at a far-off DU college who did not want to be named said it would become a major problem for female students. “As it is, most students take an hour or two to travel to our college. By 4 pm, our campus becomes deserted. If they have to stay till 8 pm, parents will start pulling these girls out of college,” she said.

As the workload increases for teachers, they are forced to make certain compromises. “When we were making the workload for the fourth year, we realised that teachers would have to go over and above their workload. So, departments decided to drop some SEC (Skill Enhancement Course) and VAC (Value Added Course), but the college told us that we have to offer them and also teach the fourth-year students. So now our workload is increasing, or we are having to cut down the choices of DSE (Discipline Specific Elective) and General Elective courses,” said Academic Council member Monami Sinha, who teaches Economics at Kamala Nehru College.

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Will teachers be compensated?

In such a situation, the question arises, will colleges or the university compensate teachers for extra work? DU registrar Vikas Gupta told The Federal that teachers are expected to give 40 hours per week to their job. “Fourteen or 16 hours is only the direct teaching hours, the rest of it is supposed to be research and other things. So, there is no question of extra work,” he said.

Hindu College professor Anju Srivastava said teaching included other aspects too. “Many people are professors and even if they are not, they are in the process of becoming professors. So supervisory, PhD type of work is expected of all of us. That is not going to be extra work; that is going to be part of your profile,” she said.

Faculty “being burdened…without adequate support”

Interestingly, even the DU Teachers’ Association (DUTA), led by the National Democratic Teachers’ Front (NDTF), the teachers’ wing of the RSS, has said that faculty members were “being burdened with increased teaching and administrative duties without adequate support in terms of additional staff or improved facilities”.

“The Ministry of Education (MoE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) have not sanctioned any additional teaching posts or funds to accommodate the increased workload arising from the introduction of the fourth year in undergraduate programmes. The higher education system is already under strain due to the implementation of the EWS reservation and a 25 per cent increase in seats across courses since 2019, without any corresponding increase in grants or teaching positions,” DUTA president AK Bhagi said in a letter to the DU vice-chancellor on May 22.

“To manage the additional workload from higher student intake, the university and colleges have had to adjust by reducing course credits and increasing class sizes, resulting in academic dilution, especially in Honours degree programs,” he said.

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Is HEFA loan good for DU?

In an Executive Council (EC) meeting held on Friday (May 23), DU VC Yogesh Singh said DU has to return “only 10 per cent of the HEFA (Higher Education Financing Agency) loan in 10 years”, and that “new buildings and infrastructure are being constructed in DU with the money received from HEFA, which will provide good facilities to the students”.

However, several teacher organisations have been critical of a HEFA loan, arguing that it is a move towards privatisation and a self-financing model, and will impact the autonomy of DU which will have to generate revenue to pay off the loan.

It will not be the first time DU is seeing a four-year programme. In 2013, under the Congress government, DU introduced the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP). However, it faced strong pushback from students and teachers, who said it would lead to academic dilution and commercialisation of education. Amid protests, and with a change in government at the Centre, the UGC ordered a rollback in 2014. Eleven years later, it remains to be seen how the new four-year programme will pan out.