While the faculty members,under the aegis of the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA),had initially refused to cooperate with the process of syllabus revision,a DU Academic Council member said the university has put pressure on ad-hoc teachers and junior faculty and research scholars to be part of the sub-committees on syllabus revision. They proceeded in secret with the blessings of their respective Heads of Department (HoDs). These meetings were held in the Institute of Life Long Learning, the member said. Revised syllabuses in hand,HoDs have been convening the Committees of Courses of each Department of late for their approval. Abha Dev Habib,also an Academic Council member,said: One after the other,the Committees of Courses rejected the proposal. Mondays meeting was earlier scheduled for April 15 but it had to be postponed because none of the committees passed it. The meeting of the Faculty of Science on Monday approved the revised syllabuses. A Physics teacher said: The agenda for the meeting was not circulated beforehand. A 33-page syllabus was thrust into my hand when I reached the venue the universitys Council Hall. But none of the faculty members Newsline spoke to had seen a copy of their respective syllabus beforehand. Two professors,who are members of the Committee of Courses of the department,walked out, a faculty member of the Zoology department said. Not many from the department were present,and couple of us raised our objections. We were asked to put them on record in four days but were given no guarantee that they would be considered. The Zoology syllabus was reportedly approved in about five minutes,and Physics in about 20. Most of the objections raised were procedural,not academic,a faculty member said. We pointed out that the Faculty of Science has no power unless the Committee of Courses passes the syllabi but the Dean was in no mood to listen, the member said. Faculty members are also concerned about the inaction in their ranks. One member said,Majority of those present had nothing to say either way. Shobit Mahajan of Physics department said,The Committee of Courses in our department met on April 8. When I asked the HoD about details of the committee that drafted the syllabus,he left in a huff. The revised syllabus was not even placed at the meeting. He said the sub-committees that drafted the syllabus were illegal. The Committees of Courses are supposed to form them, Mahajan said,but no such decision exists in minutes of the meetings of the Committees. Dean of the Faculty of Science Rup Lal said: The meeting of the Faculty of Science passed every syllabus that was presented before it. There were some dissensions but the majority were in support of the move. It is wrong to say that the Committees of Courses did not pass the syllabi; some meetings were disrupted but the HoDs managed to take decisions despite that.
