In a letter to vice chancellor Yogesh Singh on Monday, a number of members of Delhi University’s executive, academic, and teachers’ associations urged him to “expand” the newly formed committee established to look into the teacher-to-student ratio by including elected teachers’ representatives to ensure “meaningful discussion.” A seven-person committee was recently formed by the university to research and debate rules pertaining to the student-teacher ratio. In order to make the most use of the varsity’s resources, including its lab equipment, the committee, which is led by DU Director South Campus Prakash Singh, will also undertake discussions on the size of the student groups for lectures, practicals, and tutorials.
Eight Delhi University professors who belong to the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), the union for educators, expressed dismay that neither the Executive Council nor the Academic Council had elected teacher representatives on the committee in their letter. The letter stated that without the participation of elected teacher representatives who bring with them the mandate of the teaching fraternity of the University, “such an activity carried out by few Principals and Heads of Department will be inadequate and meaningless.” We thus ask that you broaden this committee to include elected teacher representatives from all groups as well as elected independent teacher activists so that a thorough discussion can be had regarding all issues and the effects of any modifications to current workload-related rules.
One of the letter’s authors, Nandita Narain, a past president of DUTA and a member of the DUTA Executive, stated that it is unacceptable to attempt to silence teachers’ voices when making important academic decisions. Jitendra Kumar Meena, a member of the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) Executive, Nandita Narain, Rajib Ray, Rudrashish Chakraborty, and Biswajit Mohanty, members of the Academic Council, are among those who wrote the letter.
A second letter author and member of the Academic Council, Mithuraj Dhusiya, stated that the committee must have elected teacher representatives present. They have the responsibility and the expertise to address these crucial problems, which have a direct bearing on the colleges’ and departments’ teaching-learning procedures.
