NEP 2020 is aimed at making higher education more utility-based to prepare students for the industry. Source: Facebook
Delhi University (DU) has passed the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF), formulated in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), for the 2022-23 academic session.
The UGCF, which includes a four-year curriculum for undergraduate programmes, was passed at the Academic Council (AC) meeting of the varsity on February 9.
This curriculum framework will now be discussed in a meeting of the Executive Council of DU on February 11.
On January 21, the varsity had released a draft Undergraduate Curriculum Framework 2022 (UGCF-2022) and sought feedback from stakeholders, including parents and academicians. The stakeholders had time till January 31 to submit their feedback.
The UGCF was approved by the Academic Council of the varsity amid protests by some of the council members. At least 11 members of the council gave a dissent note against the framework, saying the UGCF 2022 must be sent for discussion to all statutory bodies such as the committees of courses, staff councils and faculties before it gets the AC’s nod.
The dissent note said that the university gave only 10 days for the stakeholders to respond to a restructuring which will change the landscape of undergraduate education and have major consequences for students and teachers.
"The current batch of class XII students had enough instability in terms of their crucial years getting affected by the pandemic. It will not be fair to force rushed exercises of CUCET (Central Universities Common Entrance Test) and FYUP on them. For once, the University of Delhi should be spared from these experiments," the note further stated.
The UGCF states that students who exit at the end of the first year after successful completion of academic requirements will be awarded with a UG certificate and those exiting at the end of the second year will be awarded with UG Diploma.
"The relevance of such awards on the job prospects of a student remains unclear. The very idea of a single structure leading to multiple types of certifications is so flawed that a meaningful FYUP of this kind is not possible. Much hyped Certificate and Diploma are mere paper degrees," said the note.
It also stated that the FYUP will increase the burden of another year of education on parents and students and the Multiple Entry and Exit Scheme (MEES) will institutionalise drop-outs.
NEP 2020 is aimed at making higher education more utility-based to prepare students for the industry. To ensure what is being taught translates to applicable skills, multiple changes are to be implemented in higher education in the coming years.