The Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), a teachers’ body of Delhi University, has alleged that the University Grants Commission’s Four Year Under-graduate Programme (FYUGP) draft has several instances of plagiarism, with portions of the document copied from websites of foreign universities. The DTF has pointed out seven examples — six copied from the website of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, University of Michigan, and one from the website of the University of Arizona. The Indian Express independently checked both sets of documents: - One of the examples cited by the DTF is in Section 5 of the FYUGP, under ‘Structure of the four year undergraduate programme’. The draft reads: “The courses relating to these areas of learning aim at instilling an understanding and an appreciation of all main areas of learning. Though students are not required to master all areas in detail, they are expected to develop a coherent view of essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that characterise each of these areas of learning." On the LSA website, the paragraph under ‘Area Distribution Requirement’, reads: “LSA seeks to instill an understanding and an appreciation of all major areas of learning. Students are not expected to master all areas in detail, but they should develop a coherent view of essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that typify these disciplines.” - In Section 5.1 of the draft under the subsection ‘Humanities’, it is written: “Creative expression courses will include hands-on activities that allow students to express their creativity through a wide range of arts, including through playing a musical instrument, composing music, or arranging music and using many different mediums, including ceramics, metalworking, paper and textiles, woodworking, and glass.” The DTF says this is plagiarised from the LSA website, which under the Section ‘Area definitions’ and subsection ‘Creative Expression’ states: “Creative Expression (CE) courses entail hands-on activities that allow students to express their creativity through a wide range of arts. . CE courses teach students how to apply the theory not only on paper but through playing an instrument, creating sound, composing music, or arranging music. CE courses may address many different mediums, including the performing arts, fine arts, plastic and visual arts, architecture, ceramics, metalworking, paper and textiles, woodworking, and glass.” - The University of Arizona website, under Academic Policies, states that “lower-division courses generally focus on foundational theories, concepts, perspectives, principles, methods, and procedures of critical thinking in order to provide a broad basis for more advanced courses”. The FYUGP draft on ‘Foundation and introductory courses’ reads: “These courses generally would focus on foundational theories, concepts, perspectives, principles, methods, and procedures of critical thinking in order to provide a broad basis for taking up more advanced courses.” In a statement, the DTF said: “The UGC draft FYUGP is a mindless cut-paste from foreign universities and is divorced from the ground realities in which higher education takes place; it increases the financial burden on students with an additional year but provides no meaningful academic content.” UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar told The Indian Express, “We have passed on the feedback on to the committee members (that drafted the FYUGP document). They are looking into it. This is only the draft version. The final document is not ready yet. It will be prepared after incorporating stakeholders comments.”
