The largest
academic programmes of the University of Delhi are its undergraduate programmes.
Most of these had not undergone changes, except superficially, for decades. The
University, therefore, began the process of curricular transformation giving priority
to those programmes where change was most needed. The BA (Pass) programme underwent
a structural transformation into the new BA programme. Similarly, the BA (Honours),
BCom (Honours), BSc (General), BSc (Honours) programmes were transformed.
BA
Programme:
The much neglected BA (Pass) programme underwent a substantial change when a new
BA was launched in July 2004. This was an initiative with enormous importance,
in the sense the restructured programme enables students to have a solid grounding
in some disciplines, acquire linguistic skills and foundational knowledge in certain
critical areas and be equipped with some skills to enter the world of work. What
undoubtedly is the University's largest teaching programme, affecting some 50,000
students in colleges and more than 100,000 in the open and distance learning system,
had stagnated over five decades. It was replaced by a restructured programme after
a two year long consultation involving teachers, students and experts. The new
programme has a structure that includes foundation courses, language courses,
discipline courses and application courses. While the foundation courses focus
on such themes as social inquiry and contemporary India, the application courses
cater to a variety of interests such as creative writing, music, theatre, disaster
management, entrepreneurship, etc. The new BA programme has generated a great
deal of excitement and has been welcomed by teachers, students and the community
at large as a relevant and attractive programme, the first of its kind in India.
BA
(Honours) Programme:
The programme structure of BA (Honours) was transformed without altering the structure
or substance of the courses in the main subjects, which were left to the respective
departments to revise from time to time. The erstwhile language and subsidiary
courses, which were non-credit courses, were made integral to the programme structure
in the form of concurrent courses that are credited. The restructured programme
includes, besides courses in the main disciplines which account for about 80%
weightage, concurrent courses of about 20% weightage which are based on disciplines,
languages, literature and interdisciplinary themes, and which support the study
of the major discipline, rendered in an attractive and relevant manner to a non-specialist
student. The BA (Honours) programme was transformed in a manner that would enable
(1) generation of broad-based knowledge grounded in interdisciplinary understanding,
(2) inculcation of awareness of the crucial issues faced by society and (3) development
of informed and socially aware citizens as well as scholars who possess academic
excellence.
BSc
Programmes:
Exciting developments in the field of science and available opportunities at workplace
have made it imperative that the undergraduate science courses be redesigned to
take into account emerging trends and the professional aspirations of young students.
The boundaries between different domains of science have become fuzzy; the more
exciting developments are being reported from areas at the interfaces of disciplines.
In response to the changes taking place in society, the University of Delhi has
undertaken a major restructuring exercise for its science courses. The underlying
principle was that the undergraduate science education must provide students with
(1) a broad-based exposure to the critical domains of sciences, i.e., Physics,
Chemistry, Biology, in both single science domain and multiple science domain
modes, (2) adequate background of mathematical sciences, and tools and techniques
of computer applications, modern instrumentation, electronics and analytical techniques,
(3) skills in technical writing and communication skills, (4) adequate exposure
to global and local concerns that explore the many aspects of societal relevance
in environmental science, and (5) opportunity to explore the multi-disciplinarity
of science, particularly in emerging areas that lie at the intersections of physical,
chemical, life and earth sciences including such cutting-edge areas like astrobiology,
theoretical biology, geophysics, molecular palaeontololgy, biogeochemistry, etc.
What was called the BSc (General) programme has been radically restructured. It
offers a combination of three science disciplines, mixed judiciously to permit
studies in physical science, life science and applied science and of interest
to students seeking a broad-based exposure to science. The first year of study
consisting of foundation courses is common to all students and provides exposure
to essentials of Physics, Chemistry, Life Sciences and Mathematics. The course
provides hands-on exposure to tools and techniques of science and develops generic
core competencies in use of computers, modern laboratory instruments and data
handling techniques critical for understanding the empirical nature of science.
It also includes formal courses on technical writing and communication skills
in English and provides opportunities for addressing issues of societal concern
through a course on Environmental Science. The second and third years allow diversification
through study of carefully designed combinations of three disciplinary domains
of science. Students would be able to add value to their degree by choosing from
a range of electives of multidisciplinary interest, including those from Humanities.
The teaching strategies and the accompanying evaluation and assessment are befittingly
interactive; the laboratory component in particular has fifty percent weightage
reserved for internal assessment. The University is also launching a new honours
programme titled BSc in Biological Sciences. In significant contrast to the existing
BSc (Honours) in Botany and Zoology, the new programme introduces Biology from
the contemporary perspective wherein it is viewed as an integrated universal science,
emphasizing the functional unity underlying structural diversity in living organisms.
This course will, again, have a common foundation course in the first year, as
designed for the other new BSc programmes.
BCom
(Honours) Programme:
The BCom (Honours) programme also underwent a thorough revision. The revised BCom
(Honours) programme has three distinguishing features: (1) The 21 courses that
constitute the programme include applied language courses, which are credited.
New courses like `Politics, Ethics and Social Responsibility of Business' would
need involvement of teachers of political science, philosophy, etc. (2) There
are greater Information Technology inputs. This includes IT inputs in many of
the compulsory courses such as accounting, statistics, income tax, etc., along
with two optional groups of IT courses in the final year. There are two compulsory
papers on computers. There is also a practical component of computer work. (3)
The programme enables a college to offer its students the opportunity of earning
credits for a project report based on summer attachments in business organizations.
BA
(Vocational Studies) programme
has been restructured and revised in view of the changes in the employment market.
The restructured programme has seven streams, including tourism, management and
marketing of insurance, small and medium enterprises, and human resource management.
Each of these streams has a foundation course on computer and business communication
and four language courses. In addition, the programme contains four vocational
courses and three interdisciplinary courses in each of the seven streams.
New
Programmes:
A new MBA (Services) programme was started in the South Campus with a view to
addressing the longstanding need for a good management degree programme for the
service sectors. Several other new programmes have been initiated in the past
five years, some of them in interdisciplinary and applied areas. In some cases,
the initiative has come from colleges that transact these programmes. They include
BSc (Honours) Computer Science, BSc (Honours) Polymer Science, BSc (Honours) Biological
Sciences, BA (Honours) Modern European Languages, BE (Biotechnology), BE (Information
Technology), MSc (Computer Science), MA/MSc in Environmental Studies, PG Diploma
in Conflict Transformation and Peace Building, MPhil (Clinical Psychology) and
MPhil (Environmental Studies).
Course
Transformations:
The past five years saw many departments coming forward and undertaking major
transformations in the structures of the courses they have been offering. The
University instituted a system of peer evaluation of new course structures, syllabi
and reading lists, involving expertise from outside the University. This created
an opportunity for ensuring prior quality audit of the new course structures by
the larger professional community. Several departments took their undergraduate
honours programmes through a process of major revision, e.g., BA (Honours) courses
in History, English, Economics, Sociology, Punjabi, Business Economics, Applied
Psychology, and BSc (Honours) courses in Geology, Anthropology, Botany, Zoology,
Microbiology, Polymer Science, and Home Science. Several other programmes also
underwent structural transformations, e.g., BA (Pass) Home Science, BSc (General)
Sericulture, BSc (General) Computer Science, BLibSc, MLibSc, MSc (Electronics),
MSc (Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology), MCom, MA (Political Science),
MA (English), MA (Punjabi), MA/MSc (Applied Operational Research), MTech (Microwave
Electronics), MIB, MHROD, Certificate/Diploma/Advanced Diploma in Portuguese Language,
Certificate/ Diploma/ Advanced Diploma in Korean Language, PG Diploma in International
Marketing, Diploma in Business Journalism and Corporate Communication, and MPhil
(Education). Modifications have been made in many courses under various programmes,
keeping in perspective the emerging trends.
In
order to ensure that there were the requisite 180 teaching days every year, a
six-day teaching week was re-introduced with effect from July 2003. Also, it was
legislated that teaching would commence on July 16th and would end not earlier
than March23rd. The system of tutorials and preceptorials was strengthened. Mentoring
by teachers was institutionalized. A system of academic monitoring and supervision,
and student-faculty committees was introduced essentially to ensure that the academic
processes are organized effectively.
