Jun 23 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
UGC gives DU a day to scrap FYUP
Akshaya Mukul
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New Delhi:
TNN
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Wants Report On Compliance Before Noon
Leaving little scope for Delhi University to defy the government on the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), the University Grants Commission on Sunday issued another directive to the varsity to revert to the three-year course and asked for a compliance report by forenoon on Monday .UGC, which controls the university's purse strings, told DU that any deviation from the directive shall be “deemed to be in contraven tion of the UGC Act, with its consequences“. This is the second directive by UGC on scrapping FYUP in the past few days. The previous one was sent on Friday .
“There will be serious costs for the DU administration if it defies the government. Top university offi cials should not play with the future of students any longer and not turn an issue of public interest into a private battle,“ said a highly placed source.
Sources said DU vicechancellor Dinesh Singh was expected to make a statement on the development at the ex ecutive council meeting on Monday . However, late on Sunday evening, the varsity administration postponed the meeting.
Sources said UGC has an action plan ready in the event of the university not falling in line by Monday forenoon.
UGC sent letters on Sunday to the principals of DU's 70-odd colleges, asking them to strictly follow the three year undergraduate course.
Principals have been told that “any deviation or contravention shall be viewed seriously by UGC and may attract action under the UGC Act including withdrawal of grant to the college“. UGC staff delivered the directive to each college principal by hand. The commission has also decided to issue a public notice to be carried by newspapers on Monday , asking students to take admission only in three-year courses.
The notice, issued by the UGC chairperson, also says a standing committee is being set up to advise DU on the migration back from FYUP to a three-year undergraduate programme so that students “do not lose an academic year... and for this purpose, ensure that students acquire necessary academic and other competence during the next two years.“
The committee will comprise members of the university's academic and executive councils, teachers' and students' unions, and senior academics. It is now uncertain whether Delhi University colleges will be able to declare the first cutoff list for undergraduate admissions as per schedule--the entire programme appears to have changed in the 10 days since the application process ended. The first cutoff list for 2014-15 was to be declared on June 24.
Although majority of colleges said they will continue with meetings of the admission committee to decide cutoffs on Monday , the latest University Grants Commission's letter--this one sent directly to colleges on Sunday--has complicated the process, leaving principals and admission committee members confused. Colleges are now looking for clarity from the standing committee set up by UGC on Saturday .
College officials also said the standing committee should clear guidelines on courses scrapped under the four-year-undergraduate programme and on the issue of seat redistribution. DU, while introducing FYUP, had discontinued BA, BCom and BSc programmes and redistributed the seats among the discipline courses 1 (DC1).
Colleges are now unsure whether they have to admit students in these programmes as UGC, in its order, has directed that admissions for 2014-15 have to be as per the three-year structure.
“When these courses were scrapped, the university had told us the methodology for redistribution of seats. Now if they are to be restored, the university is obliged to tell us how,†says a senior official from Ram Lal Anand College, conceding that they are “totally confused.†They are, however, going ahead with the admission committee meeting on Monday.
“If the previous system and courses are restored, it's almost like doing everything afresh,“ observes Rajendra Prasad, principal, Ramjas College, “We will need more time to reorganize as a lot of work is involved. I hope the university will define the policies.“
According to SRCC principal P C Jain, “We will continue with the cutoff meeting. We are awaiting further instructions though SRCC will not have any problem in deciding cutoffs as, even in the three-year system, we had just two courses.“ However, it will be colleges that used to offer BCom, BSc and BA programmes in the three-year scheme and where BTech courses were introduced under FYUP that will face complications in deciding cutoffs.
Illustrating exactly how complicated the process can be, the perturbed principal of a North Campus college says, “I have no idea how to prepare the cutoff list. If we have to conduct admissions as per the three-year structure, will the BSc and BA programmes make a comeback? If, for example, I had 60 seats in physics in the three-year system and that became 97 when, under FYUP, the BSc programme was scrapped, how will I decide cutoffs. Again, how will we enrol students as no one has applied for these courses since they were not an option in the centralized registration process this year?“ toireporter@timesgroup.com
“There will be serious costs for the DU administration if it defies the government. Top university offi cials should not play with the future of students any longer and not turn an issue of public interest into a private battle,“ said a highly placed source.
Sources said DU vicechancellor Dinesh Singh was expected to make a statement on the development at the ex ecutive council meeting on Monday . However, late on Sunday evening, the varsity administration postponed the meeting.
Sources said UGC has an action plan ready in the event of the university not falling in line by Monday forenoon.
UGC sent letters on Sunday to the principals of DU's 70-odd colleges, asking them to strictly follow the three year undergraduate course.
Principals have been told that “any deviation or contravention shall be viewed seriously by UGC and may attract action under the UGC Act including withdrawal of grant to the college“. UGC staff delivered the directive to each college principal by hand. The commission has also decided to issue a public notice to be carried by newspapers on Monday , asking students to take admission only in three-year courses.
The notice, issued by the UGC chairperson, also says a standing committee is being set up to advise DU on the migration back from FYUP to a three-year undergraduate programme so that students “do not lose an academic year... and for this purpose, ensure that students acquire necessary academic and other competence during the next two years.“
The committee will comprise members of the university's academic and executive councils, teachers' and students' unions, and senior academics. It is now uncertain whether Delhi University colleges will be able to declare the first cutoff list for undergraduate admissions as per schedule--the entire programme appears to have changed in the 10 days since the application process ended. The first cutoff list for 2014-15 was to be declared on June 24.
Although majority of colleges said they will continue with meetings of the admission committee to decide cutoffs on Monday , the latest University Grants Commission's letter--this one sent directly to colleges on Sunday--has complicated the process, leaving principals and admission committee members confused. Colleges are now looking for clarity from the standing committee set up by UGC on Saturday .
College officials also said the standing committee should clear guidelines on courses scrapped under the four-year-undergraduate programme and on the issue of seat redistribution. DU, while introducing FYUP, had discontinued BA, BCom and BSc programmes and redistributed the seats among the discipline courses 1 (DC1).
Colleges are now unsure whether they have to admit students in these programmes as UGC, in its order, has directed that admissions for 2014-15 have to be as per the three-year structure.
“When these courses were scrapped, the university had told us the methodology for redistribution of seats. Now if they are to be restored, the university is obliged to tell us how,†says a senior official from Ram Lal Anand College, conceding that they are “totally confused.†They are, however, going ahead with the admission committee meeting on Monday.
“If the previous system and courses are restored, it's almost like doing everything afresh,“ observes Rajendra Prasad, principal, Ramjas College, “We will need more time to reorganize as a lot of work is involved. I hope the university will define the policies.“
According to SRCC principal P C Jain, “We will continue with the cutoff meeting. We are awaiting further instructions though SRCC will not have any problem in deciding cutoffs as, even in the three-year system, we had just two courses.“ However, it will be colleges that used to offer BCom, BSc and BA programmes in the three-year scheme and where BTech courses were introduced under FYUP that will face complications in deciding cutoffs.
Illustrating exactly how complicated the process can be, the perturbed principal of a North Campus college says, “I have no idea how to prepare the cutoff list. If we have to conduct admissions as per the three-year structure, will the BSc and BA programmes make a comeback? If, for example, I had 60 seats in physics in the three-year system and that became 97 when, under FYUP, the BSc programme was scrapped, how will I decide cutoffs. Again, how will we enrol students as no one has applied for these courses since they were not an option in the centralized registration process this year?“ toireporter@timesgroup.com
