First-year students at DU join protest against Choice Based Credit System (CBCS)
Hundreds of students and activists under the banner ‘Save
DU’ organised a protest march on Friday against the Choice Based Credit System
(CBCS) in Delhi University (DU)’s North Campus. Many first-year students too
took part in the protest. Students and activists from organisations like the
All India Students’ Association (AISA), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and
Students’ Federation of India (SFI) marched through various colleges like
Ramjas, Hindu, Kirorimal and Hansraj before assembling at the Arts Faculty.
“We
are completely lost under this system. There is no clarity on anything. Classes
haven’t started properly, timetables haven’t been set and we don’t even know
the subjects we will study. We cannot even turn to our teachers for guidance
because they too are clueless,” said a first-year student of history (H) from
IP College for Women.
A student of political science from Shaheed Bhagat Singh
Evening College said her class was being taught mass media but she had no idea
that it was part of the General Elective Course. “I don’t know the terminology
of the courses at all. I only know that classes are being held only for
political science and mass media, and that the syllabi for the latter is
sub-standard,” she said. General Electives are based on the “cafeteria
approach”, which gives students an open field of subjects to choose from. But
in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Evening College, mass media was not given as a choice.
Under CBCS, students are also meant to study Discipline Centred Elective
Courses and Ability Enhancement Courses, along with their Core Courses and
General Elective Courses.
But timetables and syllabi have not been formed for
these in many colleges. The organisations have decided to keep up the momentum
against CBCS