Over 50 mathematics teachers from various Delhi University colleges have raised concern over the content and formulation process of the proposed syllabus for the BSc (Honours) Mathematics course under the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), which is set to be introduced from the upcoming academic session.
The draft Undergraduate Curriculum Framework was passed by the university’s statutory bodies in January, and is to be implemented from the upcoming academic session. For this, the syllabus preparation and finalisation for various programmes is currently underway.
The university had directed the departments to submit the syllabus for the first two semesters of the FYUP by June 10. After going through the committee on courses, the syllabus was presented before the Faculty of Mathematics on both May 20 and May 25, after which it was submitted to the university. From here, it has to be approved by the standing committee on Academic Matters, then the Academic Council, and the Executive Council.
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A total of 52 maths teachers from various colleges including St Stephen’s College, Lady Shri Ram College, Hansraj College and Kirori Mal College have written to the Head of Department of Mathematics Ruchi Das raising concern over not being involved in the syllabus formation.
“Widespread consultation with college teachers, who have been teaching this course and are aware of the needs of undergraduate students, is desirable. For this a General Body meeting of all such teachers should be held, as was done in the past,” they have written.
Das did not respond to queries from The Indian Express.
Pankaj Garg, who was part of the committee for one of the maths papers, said the syllabus should have been sent to colleges for recommendations from teachers. “The understanding was that whatever is formed by committees will be sent to colleges but it was not implemented. These are people who will be teaching this in classrooms but there was very little time given for such a major process,” he said.
The teachers who have raised concerns have flagged the reduction in lecture credits from core courses Analysis and Algebra in the first two semesters.
“Under this structure, the number of lecture credits has anyway been reduced from 66 to 54. While earlier there were 14 core papers across 66 credits, there are now 18 core papers across 54 credits. Even within these reduced credits, we have concerns about the prioritisation being done,” said Nandita Narain from St Stephen’s College, who is one of the signatories.
They have stated that three courses which are electives under the existing system have been introduced as core courses in the first two semesters.
“The lecture credits assigned to the core foundational courses of Analysis and Algebra have been drastically reduced in the proposed new structure from 25 each to 15 each, which will adversely affect the conceptual base of Mathematics Honours students… Three courses that were electives in current LOCF (learning outcome-based curriculum framework) course and one from the PG curriculum have been put into the core DSC (Discipline Specific Core) courses … This is not desirable, as the introduction of new core courses should not be at the expense of the existing core courses that are indispensable for laying a strong conceptual foundation,” states their petition.
They have also flagged that in several papers, content that was covered in five lectures is now proposed to be covered in three.