This has become an oft repeated question by students in the past few weeks, some hopeful and others apprehensive. What most of them fail to realize is the fact that no class today would imply extra classes tomorrow. And ironically, this then leads the same students, who were jubilant about the class cancellation the day before, to realize their plight and request teachers to take class.
No, this isn’t an attack on either the teachers or the students, but on the ‘sinister’ semester system looming ahead. You may have observed that it has created quite an uproar among the colleges of Delhi University. If you ask a DU student about the semester system, you’ll encounter an alarming change in countenance – their eyebrows contract, ears redden, teeth are bared and fists curl. The general impression one assumes about the system, is of an all-consuming evil thing, out to get the vulnerable students and teachers.
For those who are unaware of its structure, the semester system will require two examinations to be held in a year; a total of six three years in a degree course. Whatever has been taught in one semester is not repeated in the other. So what happens in a literature course? Can you divide a lengthy novel and teach it in two parts without referring one part to the other? The arguments of the teachers against it don’t seem to be senseless either. The Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental has been accused of forcing the system, without an adequate debate or consensus among the teachers. Moreover, many clearly state that the annual results are never on time. How, then, will the University manage to declare the results of two semesters in a year? The students won’t have sufficient time for extracurricular and co-curricular activities, which would go to mean, in dramatic words, that for a majority of students, college life is over. It’s like you crawl out of school curriculum and then you’re dragged back. Some advantages stated by those who advocate the system is that it’ll make students more focused and control absenteeism. Since a semester is more intensive, the student will have to keep up with what is being taught in class. Also, the credit system doesn’t reveal the student’s actual marks, which reduces a sense of failure among those who score poorly.
Deshbandhu, Kirori Mal, SGND Khalsa and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce are among colleges protesting actively against its implementation. Those colleges where the teachers didn’t protest but chose to conduct regular classes include Lady Shri Ram College, Indraprastha College, St. Stephen’s and Dyal Singh College.
To sum it up, one cannot deny the academic benefits of the semester system, but at what cost?
The system instigates a chain reaction against ECA – a student apprehensive of missing classes and losing attendance, doesn’t have much say, when she/he wants to participate in a college function but is unable to, owing to the classes being held on the same day and at the same time. I thought college was all about balancing academics and extra curricular activities, and being provided the liberty to prioritize between them if one wished to. It’s also a deeply acknowledged fact that those who want to study, will, and those who don’t … well, no semester system can exert any control over them whatsoever.
~ Neha A. Owaisy
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