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Education News

has taken the lead in developing was prolonged because
programmes to speed up a mind- of a tussle between the
shift change within the K-12 teachers HRD ministry and vice
community, especially of govern- chancellor Yogesh Tyagi
ment schools, in the days ahead. But over the ministry having
the general uncertainty and disrup- recommended some ap-
tion has added to the anxiety of pointments in the VC’s
students, teachers and parents and office which was resist-
other stakeholders and it may take ed by Tyagi. The stale-
at least a full year of realignment for mate led to some critical
students, teachers and administra- positions in DU remain-
tors. ing vacant and a period
Monitors of the education scene, of indecisiveness. With
and especially your editors, have correction of examina-
become more hopeful that the Striking DU teachers: double whammy tion papers suspended
budgetary outlays of the Central and during the 85-day
state governments for education — “I have applied to RMIT University, strike period, students were caught
which add up to a mere 3 percent Melbourne. I need to submit my fifth in the crossfire. And their plight was
of GDP currently — will increase semester results so they can evaluate exacerbated by the Covid-19 outbreak
substantially. The positive fallout my academic record. Banks also ask which forced educational institutions
of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping for semester results before sanction- to shut down before the national lock-
the country is that it has dragged the ing education loans,” Mukul Upad- down was ordered on March 25. The
education sector kicking and scream- hyay, a final-year student of Delhi number of students affected is huge.
ing into the digital era. University’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay DU is India’s largest institution of
Autar Nehru (Delhi) College, told a news agency. higher learning and among the larg-
For these students, an indefinite est worldwide.
Unwitting victims strike called by the powerful Delhi Uni- he disruptions in Delhi Universi-
versity Teachers’ Association (DUTA) Tty’s academic calendar due to the
on December 4 last year, which went strike and subsequent lockdown have
ast december after final year on for almost three months before it proved to be the last nail in the coffin
students of the Central govern- was called off on February 26, was the of final year students. With teachers
Lment-funded Delhi University beginning of their travails. The strike and university administrators con-
(DU) wrote their fifth semester exam, was the union’s response to a univer- fined to their homes, the prospect of
the results, under normal circum- sity circular that demoted 4,000 ad students losing a whole year has be-
stances, would have been declared in hoc faculty of Delhi University to the come all too real. The new term was
end January (2020). But owing to a status of guest lecturers. to start in January, and a new batch
combination of unforeseen circum- The sticking point is that the re- of students will be entering their final
stances — the national lockdown on muneration of guest faculty is several year, even before the current batch
March 25 following the outbreak of notches lower than of ad hoc faculty, gets its results.
the Coronavirus pandemic, and a pro- some of whom have been teaching As of now, the varsity is closed in-
longed university teachers strike that in DU for over a decade. The cash- definitely. This means students cannot
began on December 4 last year — the strapped university, whose tuition fill examination forms for the last se-
exam results haven’t been declared as fees have remained frozen for several mester because of the delay in fifth se-
yet, three months later. decades, can’t afford to recruit full- mester results, and with colleges and
The apprehension of final year uni- time faculty despite a large number universities under shutdown, there is
versity students about losing an entire of vacancies because they have to be no administration or appellate author-
year is perhaps greater than fear of paid sky-high Seventh Pay Commis- ity.
the novel Coronavirus, which has in- sion prescribed salaries. Therefore In the circumstances, the consen-
fected 6,412 citizens countrywide and it has some 4,000 underpaid ad hoc sus of academic opinion is that the
inflicted 199 fatalities (April 10). Many faculty on its payroll. According to right thing to do would be to announce
of these students readying to apply for DUTA their demotion to the status of the fifth semester results based on stu-
higher studies abroad haven’t been guest lecturers is insulting and unac- dents’ academic performance over the
able to do so because of the delay in ceptable. year and teachers’ evaluation reports.
declaration of the fifth semester re- According to university insiders, But UGC is yet to take a call on this
sults. the duration of the DU teachers strike proposal. And if this proposal is not

14 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2020