Delhi University teachers oppose UGC proposal on online courses

NEW DELHI: Delhi University teachers have raised objections to the University Grants Commission’s directive to all universities and colleges to offer up to 40% of the courses in any programme online on the Central government’s open digital platform Swayam. They questioned the feasibility of the move and claimed it will “ruin the education system”.

With an aim to mainstream the pandemic-induced virtual mode of learning in all the institutes, a circular sent by UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain to the vice-chancellors of all universities and principals of all colleges on Wednesday asked them to comply and submit an action-taken report. 

The Swayam portal has video lectures by professors from across the country and also the option of students seeking clarifications. The UGC has also published a list of courses being offered on Swayam.
Abha Dev Habib, Secretary, Democratic Teachers’ Front and former member of the DU Academic Council, said, “This proposal had come from the UGC in 2016 asking universities to follow 20% online programmes. It was later tabled in August 2021.

However, it was not approved. The UGC is apparently pressurising the universities and colleges to follow this policy that’ll make teachers redundant. The government wants to slash the teachers.” She added, “The government wants to reduce the role of the university and the association between teachers and students. While I believe distance learning mode is important, a university should have the freedom to choose.”

Echoing the views, Mithuraaj Dusiya, Member, Academic Council, said, “It is going to ruin the education system. It will lead to a massive displacement because workload will be variable. If students opt for online, the offline classes will be impacted. Also, our experience during Covid made us realise that students are hardly able to grasp things properly. Online teaching can never replace offline teaching. It is a disaster.” DU V-C Yogesh Singh was not available for a comment.