Over 400 DU teachers write to VC, urge to restore English department's workload

A total of 403 English teachers across Delhi University's colleges have urged the VC to restore the English department's workload in a letter.

More than 400 English teachers from the University of Delhi have written to the varsity’s vice chancellor, Yogesh Singh, urging him to restore the workload of their department. The teachers are convinced that the implementation of the undergraduate curriculum framework from the upcoming 2022-2023 academic session will cause the department’s workload to be ‘massively reduced’, leading to livelihood loss. It was also noted by the teachers that UGCF’s tentative framework singles out the English Department for massive reduction ranging approximately from 30 percent to 40 percent of the already existing workload.

In the letter to the VC, signed by 403 teachers across Delhi University colleges, “This will not only lead to a dilution of academic quality but also loss of livelihood for the hundreds of Adhoc teachers teaching for years in English departments.”

The letter added that the UGCF structure states that the Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC) are offered only in the languages included in the VIII Schedule, which does not include English.

The letter further read, “The removal of English as an option in AEC will drastically reduce the workload of each English department in DU, thus threatening the livelihood of all adhoc teachers working in colleges.”

It was further argued by the DU teacher that the proposed structure of UGCF fails to account for the reality of school education, which is that English is studied by students as a compulsory language till Class 12 across the country instead of the option of any other language for their examination.

The letter further stated students who are from abroad, North-East region, and, Jammu and Kashmir are exempted from studying Hindi/MIL and were always given English as an option according to the Statutes of the University of Delhi.

“This statutory provision has been upheld and reiterated by the university in every academic reform undertaken by the university since 2005: whether in the semester system of 2010-11, FYUP of 2013 or the CBCS 2015,” it said further.