Can short-staffed Delhi University tackle semester system?

NEW DELHI - Delhi University (DU) may be planning to switch to the semester system - usually involving a higher teacher-student ratio - but it is already reeling under a staff crunch, with around 51 percent of teaching posts lying vacant.

DU has 1,500 sanctioned posts of teachers. A human resource development ministry report says 763 are lying vacant posts, but adds that 729 of these have been advertised and interviews are in the process of being scheduled.

The teacher shortage has affected students badly and also overburdened existing teachers.

Erut Narain, a topper in BA English (Honours) from the university’s south campus, said he could not opt for the subject he wanted due to shortage of faculty. “There were not enough teachers in the course I wanted. Had I been able to take the course, I would have scored better,” Narain told IANS.

Nupur Sharma, pursuing a BA History (Honours), has a similar complaint. “In the 2nd year, we have to choose from Russian, American and African history, but we don’t have faculty for African history due to which we are left with only two options,” she said.

DU has over 80 colleges. The annual examination system has been prevalent all these years, but the varsity plans to start the semester system for 12 science courses from the academic session beginning July.

DU Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental has said the semester system has to be implemented as per the mandate of the UGC and that it will be in the larger interest of both students and teachers.

It has been approved by the university’s academic council. Its implementation is, however, facing a roadblock from teachers in the university.

Delhi University Teacher’s Association president Aditya Narayan Misra told IANS that the university is not equipped to handle the semester system at present. “The semester system is effective where the teacher-student ratio is high. At present, we have fewer teachers,” he said.

Despite inadequate teaching staff, only a few colleges have advertised vacancies on their website. Among those displaying vacancies for teachers are Gargi College, Lady Sri Ram and Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College.

The university website shows vacancies for project fellows and research programmes but talks little about vacant posts of lecturers. Students are also suffering due to shortage of non-teaching staff.

Nitish Prajapati, a student of BSc mathematics in the north campus, said the students were not able to use the laboratory due to a shortage of lab assistants. “There is only one lab assistant for our batch of 60-70 students. We are unable to do our practicals,” he said.

He also pointed to a delayed start of classes at the beginning of a session due to the teachers’ pre-occupation with research projects.

“The classes are started only after a month or so. In the beginning of every session, the teachers are busy with their own research. Ultimately our studies suffer,” Nitish added.

Academic Council member Abha Habib also said teachers were overburdened. “We don’t get teachers for economics and computers. Apart from that, the university administration has been lethargic in dividing the large classes into smaller sections.”

“This increases the workload, affecting the quality of education. There is no stability in the system and a mechanism needs to be developed,” she said.

According to the ministry report, apart from Delhi University other universities facing a shortage of teachers are Allahabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Sikkim University.