New Delhi: First year students of University of Delhi, also known as Delhi University (DU), may get a chance to decide their major subjects, if four-year programme is put into action from the next academic session 2013-14. In addition, if the four year structure is implemented, then DU will have a common course for first year students no matter which stream they pursued in Class XII. That means, a student will get enrolled in DU only as a bachelor student and not of any specific course or stream.
According to sources, a month ago, the University had set up a 61-member task force on enabling the young redefining education, with guidelines to prepare the structure of the four-year undergraduate course. As per a member of the task force, the University is planning to have 10 basic papers in the first year which will abreast students with various challenges the nation is facing. In the same context, a fresher will have papers on subjects like rural economy, public transport and poverty, among others. However, other related subjects like economics, zoology, mathematics, political science or geography will be interwoven in these papers, he added.
Sources also informed that the present undergraduate structure in honours course will be substituted by a more elaborate baccalaureate type model where the students will get an opportunity to choose courses as they progress to second year and thereafter. Behind making such changes, the objective is to make the syllabus trans-disciplinary, where after the successful completion of the first year common syllabus, one can choose courses on the basis of their performance. The recommendations of the task force, which are likely to be proposed in November, will be placed in the academic and executive councils of DU before being implemented in July next year.
According to sources, the special 61-member task force is working on the structure of the four-year degree plan in line with that practiced in other countries like the US, Australia, China, and Brazil. As per the proposed structure, after the first two years, the students will have an option to leave with an associate degree equivalent to a diploma. Furthermore, the admission policies are also likely to see major changes as eligibility criteria of the present admission will not hold good for the new system.
