DU semester system hits English roadblock

DU semester system hits English roadblock

The Academic Council of Delhi University may have passed the semester sys- tem in the 12 Science courses but its implementation could be dicey.
Mathematics and English are key components of the courses that have been passed but both these departments have so far resisted the implementation of semester system.
“Even though the Vice- Chancellor has passed some Science courses, Maths and English, which have not been passed, form a major part of these courses. In this scenario how will these courses func- tion?“ asked Rajiv Verma, an academic council member.
On Tuesday, the university's English Department issued a letter stating, “We note with regret that the syllabi for the papers in English as part of the Science courses that were presented at the last meeting of the Academic Council have not originated from the English Department. Nor have they been considered and passed by any of the statutory bodies, including the Committee of Courses for Undergraduate studies, the Department Council and the Arts Faculty.“
It said since the Faculty of Education has drafted the pres- ent English module in the sci- ence courses, “Therefore we do not recognise these papers in English and cannot take responsibility for their being taught by our colleagues in the English departments of the var- ious colleges“.
The letter also mentioned that the department was informed about the revision of courses only on November 4, 2009 and was expected to draft the new syllabus of English for all courses by January 2010 and it was impossible to do it in such a short period.
Mathematics teachers of the varsity also voiced their con- cern about the Mathematics syllabus that was passed as part of the Science courses.
“There was meeting of the committee of courses to discuss the syllabus of Maths in cours- es other than BSc (honours) Maths but the committee did not approve the changed syl- labus. The new syllabus was approved by the academic coun- cil's sub-committee and that's how it was passed in the aca- demic council meeting,“ said Nandita Narain, Head of Department, Mathematics, St Stephen's College.

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