NEW DELHI: The DU’s academic council on Friday recorded a dissent on the steep fee structure of the newly launched courses, criticising the effect of Higher Education Financing Agency loans. According to the members, the regulation aims at pushing the expense on the shoulders of students.
Dr Vikas Gupta, elected academic council member said, “It is very sad that DU is bowing down before such models at the completion of its hundred years. Even in the Gandhian model of self-sufficient education, it was the state to provide all financial support. The institutions were to be governed in a manner favourable to all stakeholders.
This is yet another death of the ideas of higher education championed by Gandhi and Ambedkar.” He added, “The idea is derived from community colleges in the US. It is a model of selling education resulting in heavy fee hikes garbed under the pretext of concessions and scholarships. It also clearly implies exclusion of the bulk majority of historically deprived and financially weaker sections of Indian society.”
The dissent note submitted to the authorities said, “With the supposed autonomy granted, the university has to generate its own fund. The regulation aims at pushing the expense of expansion on the students. Operationalisation of this autonomy would mean that all courses henceforth will be in self-financing mode and employees, both teaching and non-teaching, hired for these new courses/ departments will be on contract basis.” “DU is known for affordable education. This is a major blow to the idea of inclusion and education for all,” it added.
East campus of DU to be set up in Surajmal Vihar Vice-Chancellor Professor Yogesh Singh presented a brief progress report of the university and said the East Delhi campus of the University of Delhi would be set up in Surajmal Vihar and a new college of DU would come up in Najafgarh.
