DU: 124 English Teachers Write to Dept Head Regarding Revised Syllabus
- DU English teachers write to the HOD, English Department regarding curriculum changes.
- Teachers demand a more democratic process while revising curriculum.
- The letter addressed to Christel R Devadawson was signed by 124 English teachers.
Various English teachers of DU have written to the Head of the English Department regarding the changes made in the curriculum. The group of teachers has asked the Department head to conduct a meeting in order to discuss the new addition to the courses.
The letters have been written in regard to the decision of the core committee of the Choice Based Credit System suggesting the inclusion of Facebook Post writing, Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone and other contemporary books under the English Generic Elective course offered by the Department.
The letter addressed to Christel R Devadawson was signed by 124 English teachers. The letter written on April 27, 2017, stated that there was a serious participatory deficit in syllabus revision procedure.
Sachin Nirmala Narayanan, an English teacher who wrote the letter to the Departmental Head, said that 29 to 32 people were part of the process that constituted the new syllabus. She also said that the teachers are not aware of the process that was followed to revise the curriculum. The procedure should have been open since teachers of 63 colleges wanted to give their input, Narayanan added.
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The teachers cited the example of the History Department that took into account the perspective of its teachers and conducted a meeting comprising teachers and sub-committees to constitute each paper. The letter added that they want a more democratic process.
The letter further added that only 30 out of 800 teachers associated with the department were involved in the process. Narayanan credited the work done by her colleagues and added that there is a need to expand the range of input from the teachers’ community.
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The teachers were asked to give their feedback, only after the changes were introduced, the letter added. The teachers were asked to submit their feedback regarding the changes by May 1. Narayanan also added that the feedback form was very restrictive and mentioned that only 10% revision was permissible whereas the DU states that 30% changes are allowed.