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semestersystemisafreemarketutopia
Comment

PKVijayan
November20,2010,Issue46Volume7
E LE VA TO R

SE RV ICE

CEN TE R

Get Free Quotes For Elevator Installation Services in Delhi.

ByPKVijayan
AsstProfessor,HinduCollege,Delhi
Afewdaysago,formerDelhiUniversityViceChancellorDeepakPentalremarkedtoanewspaperthatinthesemestersystem,thereisnoroomfor
strikesasthereisadefiniteschedule.TeachersassociationsarenotsupposedtostrikeandtheDelhiUniversityTeachersAssociation(DUTA)strike
iscertainlynotforthewelfareofthestudents.ThisremarkablelittlenuggetfromPental(hewasstillholdingofficeatthetime)isprofoundlyrevealing
ofsomeofthepoliticalissuesthatunderlietheimplementationofasemestersysteminDelhiUniversity.Notonlydidhedenytheprofessiontheright
touseitslabourascollectivebargainingforalegitimatecausearight,wemayadd,thathasbeenfoughtforandwonoverdecadesoftradeunion
struggleshealsosoughttousethisverystriketoselltheideaofthesemestersystemevenhardertothepublicatlarge,bynotingdiabolicallythat
thesemestersystemwillputpaidtoanypossibilityofstrikes,becausetheresimplywontbeanytimeforstrikes.

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Universitieswillthenchurnout
automatonsfocussedonlyon
achievingtargetssetforthem
Illustration:AnandNaorem
Theresultheenvisionsisanadministratorsutopiaanenslavedanddocileworkforce,defangedanddeclawed,focussedonlyonsomehow
completingtheteachingofthesyllabustoanequallydocilestudentcommunity,itselfcompletelypreoccupiedwithsomehowmeetingthedemandsof
agruellingcourse.Inthisutopia,itiseasytoimaginehowpoliciesandprogrammeswillbeformulatedandpassed:withnodiscussionordebate
sincetherewillbenotimeforthatandnopossibilityofoppositionsincetherewillneitherbethetimeforthatnorthelegitimacyanypolicy,no
matterhowretrograde,damagingordestructive,canbepassedandimplementedwithabsolutelynoresistance.

Thisisnotwildspeculationbasedonafewlinesofspeechreportedinanewspaper.Indeed,giventhattheDUTAcalledoffitsstrikeon29October
afteradivisionbenchoftheDelhiHighCourtaskeditto,thispointmayevenappearanacademiconenow.ButtheexpressinterventionoftheHCon
aPILwhosedemandsincidentallyareanalmostverbatimechoofPentalsordertocollegesthattheDUTAstrikebedeclaredillegal,thatthe
principleofnoworknopaybeimplementedimmediately,andthattheteachersbeforcedtoteachinthesemestersystemisitselfremarkable,given
that,normally,hearingsonPILsarenotoriouslydifficulttogetinquicktime.
Itisasignoftheseriousnesswithwhichtheissueoftheimplementationofthesemestersystemisbeingtakenwelloutsidetheacademicdomainsof
theuniversity,inallthreedomainsofadministrationandgovernance:thelegislature,theexecutiveandthejudiciary.Tounderstandthissuddenand
overweeningconcernandattention,itisnecessarytofollowsuitandlookbeyondthemereacademicdomainoftheuniversity.Andtodothat,weneed
toasksomeverybasic,evenfundamentalquestions.
Eversincethedebateovertheconversiontoasemestersystembeganin2008,thequestionthathasremainedfundamentallyunanswerediswhy?
Whydoweneedtoshifttoasemestersystem?Whyhasathoroughcritiqueoftheannualsystemwhichisbynomeansperfectnotbeenpublicly
circulatedfordiscussion,beforeproposinganalternative?Shouldnotsuchacriticalprocessconstitutethefirststepinanyreform?Whyhasthere
beenarepeatedrefusaltoengagewiththequeriesandconcernsoftheteachingcommunityregardingthesemestersystemtheverycommunitythat
isexpectedtoactuallyimplementthereforms?WhydidPentalcontemptuouslydismissthesequeriesandconcerns,evenwhentheycame,notfrom
thesocalledpoliticalfactions,butfromreputedandcommittedacademics,onveryconsideredandrigorouslyarguedacademic,logisticaland
administrativegrounds?(OnemaynotagreewiththisdistinctionasIdonotbetweenpoliticalandcommittedacademics,butitisimportantto
rememberthatsuchadistinctionexistsinpublicperceptionandifthosewhoareconsideredcommittedacademicsarethemselvesbecoming
politicisedonthisissueasdemonstratedbythephenomenalturnoutattherallyofteacherstotheHRDministryon28Octoberthenthereisclearly
causeforconcern.)WhydidPentalchooserepeatedlyandwithbafflinginsistencepatentlyirregular,evenillegal,actionstopushthisreform
through?Andmostsignificantly,whywashewillingtogototheextentofemployingunprecedentedlycoercivemeasurestoensuretheimplementation
ofthisreform,throughapatentabuseofhisemergencypowers,therebyprecipitatingaheadlongconfrontationwiththeteachingcommunityonthis
issue?
Itissometimesforgottenthattheoverwhelmingmajorityofcollegestaffassociationsandstaffcouncilshadturnedinacategoricalrejectionofthe
semestersystemasearlyasinmid2009.Iwillofferhereaverybriefrecapofsomeverydetailedandconsideredargumentsthatweresubmittedthen.
First,thesemestersystemcannotbeimplementedwithoutsubstantialdilutionofcontentinthehonourscourses,necessitatedbytheinevitabletime
crunchthatthesemesterschedulewillentail:examtimealoneaboutamonthandahalfwillbedoubled,withexamshappeningtwiceayear.
Second,theproposalistocompensateforthisinevitabledilution,bychangingfromanhonourssystemtoasystemofmajorandminorcourses,
therebyapparentlyofferingstudentsgreaterinterdisciplinaryoptionsfromavarietyofcoursesanddisciplines.Butinactualitythiswillonly
exacerbatethedilutionofquality,sincethroughthissystem,studentswillhavenotimetoengagefullywiththemajorortheminordiscipline,butwill
gainonlyasketchyanddangerouslyincompleteunderstandingofthesubject.Further,theostensibleadvantageofpromotinginterdisciplinarityis
actuallynomorethanthemakingavailableofmultipledisciplinestostudents(withnoextendedexposureandthereforelittleactualfoundationinany)
theactualinterdisciplinarity,introducedonlyrecentlythroughcarefullydesignedinterdisciplinarycoursesactivelydrawingfrommultipledisciplines,
willbejettisoned.
Third,preciselybecauseoftheinabilitytoengageinrequisitedetailwithaparticulardiscipline,thesoundknowledgebaseessentialforfurther
researchwillsimplynotbeavailable,leadingtothegradualcollapseofqualityresearch.Researchwillalsobehitbythefactthatfacultywillhavelittle
ornotimeleftoverfromcontinuousteachingandevaluationtopursueresearch.
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Fourth,whileontheonehand,governmentsofeveryhuehavepromotedreservationinhighereducationfortheweakersectionsofsociety,onthe
other,byinsistingmindlesslyonthesemestersystem,thespaceandtimerequiredforthesesectionstocatchupandcompeteoneventermswiththe
dominantsections,istakenaway:whatthereservationsystemmakespossible,thesemestersystemeffectivelyundercutsanddefeats.
Fifth,thecurrentteacherstudentratioincollegesalreadystandsinthewayofindividualattentiontostudents,andaMajorMinorcombination
threatenstoaggravatethisfurther,thusseriouslyaffectingthequalityofhighereducation.(ConcernsofEnglishTeachers,documentcirculatedby
theGeneralBodyoftheEnglishdepartmentsoftheUniversity).
Thesearejustsamplesofthemanygenuineconcernsraisedbytheteachingcommunity,fromasfarbackmid2009.Itisclearfromeventhisbrieflist,
thattheconcernsareoverwhelminglyaboutthequalityofhighereducationunderthesemestersystem,andnotabouthowitwillaffecttheteachers
workingconditionsashasbeenmaliciouslyspreadbytheuniversityauthorities.Pentalchosetoignoretheseconcernsandinsteadstrongarmed
thematterthroughtheAcademicandExecutiveCouncilsoftheuniversity.Thisledonlyexacerbatedthesituationtothepointwhere,morethanayear
later,theteachingcommunityhadnochoicebuttoresorttostrikingwork,inordertobeheard.Contrarytopopularperception,theuniversityteachers
havebeenfarfromtruculentinthismatter:ifanything,theyhaveshownremarkablepatienceandtoleranceindealingwiththeVCinthisperiod.Itwas
hewhorepeatedlybehavedwithinexplicablehasteandunpardonabledisrespecttowardstheentireteachingcommunity.Thedisrespectlaynotonly
inthecoercivemeasureshesoughttoemployagainsttheteachers,butinhisinflexiblerefusaltolistentothem,andinthedespicablecanardsthathe
launchedinthepublicsphere:abouthowteacherswerefundamentallyantichange,abouttheirapparentunwillingnesstowork,thattheywereafraid
oftheaccountabilitythatthesemestersystemwouldbringinandsoon.Throughtheseandotherveryunsavorymeans,Pentalhadsoughtto
discredittheteachersgenuineconcerns,tosowdoubtanddisunityinthecommunity,andtoinstillaregimeoffear,apprehensionandsubmissiveness
intheuniversity.Thesheervehemence,insistenceandunseemlyhasteifnottheunabashedresortingtoproceduralviolations,illegalitiesand
slanderingwithwhichPentalhasacted,shouldalonebecauseforalarm.Thereisevidentlymuchmoreatstakeintheconversionoftheuniversityto
asemestersystemthanmeetstheeye.
Sofar,wehavehadlittlebywayofjustification:onesuchhasbeenthat,thisisthesystemfollowedbyuniversitiesinternationally,andthereforeitis
necessarytoimplementitinDUtoo,inordertobringituptoglobalstandards.Evenifitisacceptedthatthereissuchasetofuniversallyapplicable
globalstandardswhich,intheabsenceofanycredibleargumentsforit,remainssuspectitisuncleareitherwhythosestandardscannotbemet
withouttheradicaloverhaulingimpliedbyasemestersystem,orconversely,whetherthosestandardswillbemetbysimplyswitchingtothesemester
system.

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Pages:12|SinglePage
(PublishedinTehelkaMagazine,Volume7Issue46,DatedNovember20,2010)
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Tags:academicdomains,administratorsutopia,AnandNaorem,civilsociety,collegestaffassociations,DeepakPental,DelhiUniversity,Delhi
UniversityTeachersAssociation(DUTA)strike,futuregeneration,highereducation,honourscourses,interdisciplinarycourses,Knowledge
Commission(KC),legitimacy,multipledisciplines,PIL,PKVijayan,semester,semestersystem,SEZ(SpecialEducationalZones),staffcouncils,
studentcommunity,syllabus,Teaching,teachingcommunity,Universities,Volume7Issue46
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