[Reader-list] More tragicomic developments in Delhi University.

[ravikant]

by Shobhit Mahajan, Dept of Phyisics, DU

“When facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?” is what one 
of the greatest thinkers of the previous century, Lord John Maynard 
Keynes is reported to have retorted in response to criticism of changing 
his intellectual position. Unfortunately, in the University of Delhi, 
facts, even when they stare at your face, don’t seem to matter as far as 
policy and thinking about policy goes.

The messianic zeal with which the previous administration went about 
trying to introduce the Semester system at the undergraduate level has 
been much talked about. What has also been evident is the widespread 
opposition to it from the teaching community. Indeed, despite the fond 
belief of the administration and dare I say much of civil society, the 
majority of the teachers were opposed to the hurried and ill thought out 
introduction of the system, not because they are lazy or don’t want to 
work-but because they are actually cognizant of the real issues involved 
in its implementation. The so-called benefits of the semester system- 
interdisciplinarity , modularity, closer interaction between those being 
evaluated and those evaluating were all shown to be non-existent in the 
scheme which has been introduced in a tearing hurry by the University.

Despite all the opposition and the critiques of the system, the 
University went ahead and introduced the system-by means which certainly 
violated the spirit of procedural propriety and academic debate, if not 
the letter. Courses were hurriedly made ( in some cases by teachers who 
had not even been teaching for a year) and they were rammed through 
statutory bodies without any discussion or debate etc. All this is well 
known and commented upon.

The semester was introduced in the Sciences and now we come to the end 
of the semester and it is time to evaluate. It is clear to everyone who 
cares to see, that the whole exercise has been farcical from the 
beginning. The teachers, left with little option struck work and so 
there are colleges where teaching has been disrupted with the result 
that syllabi, such as they are, have not been completed. The inherent 
friction in the administrative processes at the college level has also 
meant that a fair amount of time has been wasted in things like 
admissions etc.

The appropriate response of an administration which cared to see these 
“facts” as Keynes pointed out, would have been to opt for a mid-course 
correction. Instead, if reports are to be believed, what is being done 
is so completely destructive of academic integrity that it boggles the 
mind. Apparently, the University authorities in their wisdom have 
decided that given the “problems” with the way the Semester system has 
been implemented, the students should not be tested in ways that the 
teachers might want to.

In the Physics Department, after all the undergraduate question papers 
for the Semester examinations were ready, the committee overseeing the 
work was informed (verbally, of course) that the University authorities 
had taken some decisions which need to be implemented. And what were 
these decisions?

All papers will have a uniform pattern, that is to say, all papers will 
have the same number of total questions, out of which some number (again 
uniform across subjects) will have to be attempted. This will be the 
SAME across all papers! If this was not bizarre enough, the committee 
was also instructed to make sure that the questions were framed in such 
a way that anyone who has prepared even one half of the syllabus can 
attempt the whole paper and come out with flying colors!

The papers were of course suitably modified to conform to these 
instructions from the powers to be and no doubt, all the students taking 
the examination will do well. The university authorities will be happy 
that the semester system is a success; the students will be happy at 
being able to do well with a paper which hardly tests their knowledge of 
the subject. So where is the problem?

The problem is what these actions mean for the long term academic health 
of the University. We have already seen the bizarre case of marks in a 
postgraduate course being inflated so that most of the students who had 
failed, were passed. This led to the comical case of students getting 
more marks than they had even attempted in the examination! The 
questions of academic autonomy of the teacher, or the intellectual 
propriety of such an action of course are not to be raised since then 
one would be termed “obstructionist”.

The latest case of direct interference in the form and content of the 
examination is only an extension of the logic which seems to be 
governing the University administration in recent times. We know what is 
to be done; we will tell you what is to be done and how; it is not for 
you to question our wisdom on academic matters but just do it!

Keynes had also quipped famously, that “in the long run, we are all 
dead”. Yes, in the long run we indeed would not be around to see what 
shape the University has taken as a result of the obduracy, ideological 
rigidity and zeal with which these fundamental issues are being 
addressed. Unfortunately, the students will bear the brunt of all this 
and the academic reputation of the institution, built over several 
decades would almost certainly have been frittered away.