The four-year degree programme of Delhi University has come under fire from educationists and jurists, who have asked for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to postpone it.
In a letter to the prime minister about the university converting its three-year undergraduate degree into a four-year programme, jurist Rajinder Sachar and journalist Kuldeep Nayar, among others, said: "Several educationists and intellectuals all over the country have expressed their apprehensions about the merit of this decision."
"We believe that such a basic change in the higher education system/policy should first be considered and examined by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and parliament in consultation with prominent educationists of India," they said.
The letter added: "Delhi University does not exist in isolation. If this change is so valuable, it should be implemented on the national level and there should be a national debate about its merit."
Delhi University can wait for a couple of years in the best interest of the students all over India, they said.
The four-year format attempts to take an inter-disciplinary approach.
In a letter to the prime minister about the university converting its three-year undergraduate degree into a four-year programme, jurist Rajinder Sachar and journalist Kuldeep Nayar, among others, said: "Several educationists and intellectuals all over the country have expressed their apprehensions about the merit of this decision."
"We believe that such a basic change in the higher education system/policy should first be considered and examined by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and parliament in consultation with prominent educationists of India," they said.
The letter added: "Delhi University does not exist in isolation. If this change is so valuable, it should be implemented on the national level and there should be a national debate about its merit."
Delhi University can wait for a couple of years in the best interest of the students all over India, they said.
The four-year format attempts to take an inter-disciplinary approach.
