Seven-year after it was scrapped, the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) has made a re-entry in Delhi University in a new avatar, with Multiple Exit and Entry System (MEES). The contentious FYUP that received a massive backlash from university teachers and students back in 2013-14 will this time be implemented as part of the New Education Policy (NEP) from the next academic session of 2022-23.
A section of DU teachers and students have once again erupted in protest, but there are also many voices cautioning against denouncing the move even before giving it a fair chance. A section of teachers do not have serious objections to the policy per se but are of the view that the university is rushing towards implementing it without focusing on key aspects such as infrastructure, labs and teaching and non-teaching staff.
Interestingly, when the FYUP was first introduced in 2013-14, it was opposed by right-wing student and teacher organisations such as Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP) and National Democratic Teachers Front, apart from the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), as the programme was implemented during the Congress rule when Kapil Sibal was the Education Minister and Dinesh Singh was the DU Vice-Chancellor. The FYUP was Singh’s brainchild. It was scrapped in 2014 after the Modi government came to power at the Centre. This time, with the BJP in power, the programme is being fully backed by the party as well as right-wing student and teacher groups while DUTA and the Left and Congress backed teachers associations are opposed to it.
The Modi government brought the NEP in 2020 and on August 24 this year, the DU’s Academic Council (AC) approved FYUP while the Executive Council (EC), the university’s highest decision-making body, passed it last week. DU’s acting vice-chancellor P C Joshi claimed that the FYUP under NEP 2020 is very different from the previous one and offers a wide range of new courses and exit and entry options as well as research opportunities. However, a large section of teachers and students have expressed similar concerns which were raised seven-eight years ago. A number of ad hoc teachers feel that FYUP will lead to job cuts and teachers who have been working for decades in temporary and guest positions will lose their jobs.
Job loss fears
Alok Pandey, a member of AC, said, “Take Environmental Studies (EVS) for an example. In the current UG structure, EVS is being taught in the entire course but in FYUP, it will be taught for only one semester. So, after one semester, what will the EVS teachers do? They will ultimately be removed and guest teachers will be hired for just one semester. Also, many subjects have been removed. The extra year they have added for the research makes no sense because research is not done in a period of six months or a year.
This will not only lower the value of degree but will promote copy and paste culture.” The blended mode of learning that NEP promotes, with 40 per cent online and 60 per cent physical teaching, is also problematic, said Pandey. “How can students who do not have laptops do research? The online blended mode will create a digital divide and 4,000 teachers will lose their job. Earlier, it was the Congress and now it is the BJP. In the end, it is the teachers and the students who get caught in this politics and suffer,” he said.
Burden on students
Associate professor Pankaj Garg, a former member of AC, said the extra year will put additional financial burden on the students, especially those who are from marginalised sections and come from other states. “Due to lack of adequate hostel facilities in DU, a large number of students stay in PG or rented facilities. The fourth year will cost nearly Rs 2-2.5 lakh extra for a student and this will stop many students from pursuing their education,” he said.
Garg, who is also the convener of Indian National Teachers Congress, said DU should come up with a scheme or scholarship to provide financial assistance to students who wants to complete the four-year programme without any gap. It will be shame on the State, the university and the education system, if a student has to leave his/her studies midway because of lack of financial support, he said.
When asked, Acting V-C Joshi said, “The multiple entry and exit options will help the students. If any student is unable to afford the fourth year, he/she can take a two-three year gap after the third year, can do a job in that period and then resume his or her studies with the credit points earned.”
Rushed implementation
Another criticism is that the DU has rushed with the implement of FYUP without involving the stakeholders such as faculties and committee of courses in the discussion. “There needs to be a detailed discussion and wider consultation on NEP 2020 among all stakeholders first and only then can we determine if it will be feasible in DU at all. The FYUP structure with MEES will increase expenditure
towards undergraduate programmes,” said DUTA president Rajib Ray.
He also flagged the concerns over job loss on a massive scale. “The university is pushing MEES and ABC scheme with the requirement that students will do core papers from their respective colleges while allowing them to earn credits for all non-core courses from other universities. In the proposed BA (Hons) with Research, a student will have to get a total credit score of 196 in four years. Now, core courses comprise total credit points of 84, which means 42.86% of the entire four-year period. So, technically then DU will be allowing 57.14% of total credits to be earned in four years from other universities. This will have a direct negative impact on the workload and potentially we can straightaway see loss of around 57% of the current workload,” he said.
EC member Rajpal Singh Pawar, who dissented against FYUP implementation in the meeting, questioned the need to hurry. “You have not tabled or presented the NEP in Parliament or consulted the faculties or stakeholders. We are not opposing it, we are only asking you to discuss with us the possibilities, pros and cons and then implement it,” he said.
Abha Dev Habib, DUTA member and teacher at Miranda House, believes MEES will increase patriarchy and stop girl students from getting proper education. “There are many students, especially girls, who are not allowed to use mobile phone at home. The girl students get a freedom to explore education and other fields on the campus and also get a chance to complete their education under three-year UG system. But with multiple exit option, they will be psychologically pressured and blackmailed by parents to leave the study in the middle and get married,” she said.
Exit option problematic
Another teacher questioned MEES saying, “Students these days are not getting jobs even after doing UG and PG. How can they get jobs after one or two years of UG course? Also, where is the syllabus, structures? All the colleges in DU are UG colleges. What they will be called now? This will be the first time that students in UG colleges will be given certificates and diplomas.”
A contrarian view came from Manoj Sinha, secretary of DU Principals Association, who said, “We were not prepared mentally and logistically to introduce FYUP the first time. But this time, it was debated on all-India basis at several platforms and universities by experts, critics and academicians. So, this time it is well-defined. Back in 2013, it was only limited to DU and the honors degree was offered on completion of four years. But, now it is a well-prepared policy in alignment with the NEP.”
Sinha, who is also the principal of Aryabhatta College said, “Everyone has an opinion; one cannot be completely wrong or right. But why didn’t anyone point out the problems when the UGC at college level sought their individual opinions? If we oppose everything, nothing can be implemented and education system will not develop. It is up to the students to decide whether they want to pursue three years or four years.”
‘Much ado about nothing’
He did concede, however, that infrastructure was a matter of concern. “As a principal, my only worry is a lack of infrastructure. Many colleges like ours do not have enough space, infrastructure. We need permanent lab attendants, assistants and other staff and faculty.”
SP Aggarwal, Principal of Ramanujam College who was part of the 42-member committee constituted for the implementations of NEP-FYUP, said, “In this country, people start protesting even before an announcement. NEP was implemented last year and is being discussed and debated for past one year. Why were people silent till now? There are circumstances where students drop out due to family condition or health issues. But under this system, there is an option to complete studies even if someone has to leave in the middle.”
Asserting that FYUP 0.2 should not be compared with the first one, DU registrar Vikas Gupta said, “We have prepared the structure of the course and the university has one year’s time to work on the syllabus. The infrastructure will be upgraded. To prepare the syllabus and structures of PG course, we have four years.”
Ray, however, claimed the university has not sought feedback of the departments on “this crucial matter”. The restructuring of UG course should be done along with the PG course structure, he asserted.
Student union representatives, meanwhile, expressed views aligned with their political affiliations. Sidharth Yadav, national media convener and state secretary of ABVP, said, “I myself was a student of the FYUP first batch in 2013 and participated in the protests demanding its revocation. But the new scheme is totally different.” NSUI general secretary Lokesh Chugh retorted, “Hypocrisy is in the blood of the BJP. This gets clearer with adoption of FYUP, which they had sharply opposed when it was first brought by the Congress.”
What Four -yr UG course is all about?
What is FYUP?
The current three-year undergraduate (UG) programme will be replaced with Four-Year Undergraduate Programme with multiple entry and exit options. Students can opt for three-year or four-year honours in a discipline or four year honours with research.
Multiple Entry and Exit Scheme (MEES)
Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) system
The Academic Bank of Credit will allow students to earn credits from doing non-core courses in other universities and colleges which will be added to their academic ‘bank’. For students of other universities registered under this credit bank system, those eligible can get lateral entry to DU after an entrance test while DU students can get direct entry
New subjects students will study in the first three years of the honours programme
Changes in nomenclature & structure of UG programmes
The Fourth Year programme
The Four Year Undergraduate Programme will be back in DU from next academic year, this time with Multiple Exit and Entry System, reigniting protests from a section of teachers and students while others say it deserves a chance, reports Gayathri Mani