Is DU trying to please students?
By Ruchi Shrimali
DU students are celebrating the results this semester with new record highs. But apparently they have not pleased the teachers. DU academia is now accusing the varsity of academic corruption, scam to give more marks to students, and adopting a please-all policy just to prove that its semester system is working well.
The undergraduate results this semester are highly unusual as many students have scored much more than the norm. Teachers have written ‘letters of protest' to the Times of India (see report) in which they claim that instead of distributing grace marks on need-basis, DU has moderated the marks across the board. This has led to inflation of the original marks awarded to the students and have made credibility of results question-able.
According to the latest reports, professors of Miranda House, SRCC and St. Stephen's are planning to file RTI applications to review answer sheets of students who have scored ‘exceptional' marks once again.
Teachers have observed that the quality of education has dropped on three counts:
- Unofficially, many DU department held meetings to reduce the syllabus being taught to students,
- Question papers were purposefully made easier for students, and
- Examiners were specifically told to be ‘lenient' in giving marks while evaluating papers.
If the allegations turn out to be true, not only the quality of education at DU will come into question but its values will put the country to shame.
