'Five Point Someone' not part of DU curriculum this session

NEW DELHI: The recommendations by Delhi University's English department to include author Chetan Bhagat's bestseller 'Five Point Someone' in the literature curriculum and to introduce a course on writing Facebook posts have been put on hold, in view of opposition from teachers of various colleges.

The University has decided to put the proposals on hold and formed a review committee to recommend if they can be taken up in the next academic session.

"It was felt that there is arbitrariness in framing and modification of the syllabus. It has also come to light that the department has been in practice of favouring some authors and publishers, even by going out of the way of normal practice and justification," read the minutes of the meeting during which the committee was formed.

Author Bhagat had in April announced on Twitter that his book had been included in the DU curriculum.

Sources at DU had confirmed that the English department was considering the proposal made by the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) committee and that Bhagat's book would be taught along with fiction novels by

American novelist and poet Louisa May Alcott, crime novelist Agatha Christie and the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling.

The CBCS committee had also recommended making Facebook post a part of the course on 'academic writing'. Both proposals had drawn sharp reactions from literature enthusiasts and various English teachers, who argued that these could not really be counted as literature.