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DU’s four-year degrees logical decision: Tharoor

Union minister of state for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has set to rest speculations about the government going back on the reforms process initiated by former HRD minister Kapil Sibal. Referring to Delhi University’s decision to introduce four-year undergraduate programmes, Tharoor said that the change was ‘logical’. Explaining the HRD ministry’s stand, Tharoor told Millennium Post: ‘The university discussed it in its academic council. I am told among 80 or 100 council members only two gave note of dissent. Everybody else was strongly in favour of it and the university took the decision.’

‘I do think their (Delhi University’s) logic is an interesting one and would certainly be of help to those students who would like to go to graduate school in some place like America where you have a 12+ 4 system rather than a 10+2+3 system as we have in our country. Those graduating in three years from our universities are told they can’t get into a postgraduate school in America without doing one more year of undergraduate education. Those having a four-year honours degree would have no handicap to get admitted in foreign universities. Those not interested in going for higher studies abroad or in India could exit after the end of three years,’ the minister said, justifying the initiative taken by the university which has been under fire from Left-wing academics and teacher activists.

Refusing to intervene in the matter as demanded by some teachers’ groups, Tharoor said, ‘It would be inappropriate for the ministry to be involved in what is the prerogative of an administrative establishment.’

When asked if certain sections of the Left are the ones protesting on this issue, Tharoor said: ‘That could be happening. It’s unfortunate that a lot of our education and student movements are highly politicised. You have got the pro-BJP union, the CPI and CPM and even the Congress. To be honest, I don’t think we as a nation can afford to spend too much time worrying about politicisation because it is a fact of life. Whatever the politicisation it should translate into a meaningful understanding that what’s good for the country should be done. For us, there is a general conviction that on our part to give more autonomy to universities to set their own programmes, syllabi and way of doing things are good for the country.’
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