Top university announces four-year degree plan

Delhi University, one of India’s top universities, has announced that it will extend its three-year undergraduate course to four years from 2013 to make undergraduate education more broad-based and introduce more interdisciplinary education, according to Vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh.

Students would be able to pick a broader range of subjects from different disciplines in their first year before continuing to their area of specialisation.

The idea has been welcomed by academics, who say undergraduate education in India needs to improve in both quality and content.

However, the changeover faces a number of challenges such as realigning the existing curriculum, finding qualified teachers for the extra teaching load, and persuading teachers to migrate from the previous system.

Announced in early January and still in the planning stages, the new degree structure signals a move away from traditional, highly specialised three-year undergraduate degrees inherited from the British system during colonial times.

But Delhi University said it was not moving from British-style three-year degrees to an American four-year system.

“People think that we are copying the American system. But there are significant differences. What we are trying to do is study best practice across the world and change our education system accordingly,” Singh told University World News.

“We want to make the course application-oriented so that students acquire a large number of skills. We will couple this with a good [work] placement programme. We will also give exit options which no other university in India offers,” Singh said.

Flexibility and diversity

Under the new, more flexible system a student leaving after two years of study will receive a diploma if the required number of credits has been completed. A general bachelor degree will be awarded after three years of study and an honours degree after specialisation during the fourth year.

The four-year programme will also give credits for extra-curricular activities such as debating, sport and music.

Although specific details of the new system have not yet emerged Sanjeev Grewal, a senior faculty member at St Stephen's College, which is part of Delhi University, said it would help students gain interdisciplinary as well as specialised education.

“Like the American system, a four-year programme will allow students to study a bit of pure sciences, social sciences and languages among others, in the first year and provide exposure to a wide range of academic disciplines.

“This will help students discover their aptitude before going in for specialisation,” Grewal said.

The report of the National Planning Commission’s working group on higher education also makes a strong case for four-year undergraduate degrees. The report states:

“The government may consider implementing the recommendations of the committee to introduce four-year undergraduate courses to integrate education and skills. This may be initiated at least in all the central universities.”

However it said four-year undergraduate degrees should be flexible enough for students have a number of choices.

Existing four-year degrees

Indian Institutes of Technology already offer four-year bachelor of technology degrees, while the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, introduced a four-year bachelor of science programme last year.

While four-year courses are the norm in IISc programmes such as engineering, new four-year degrees in science and humanities aim to be flexible, diverse and research-oriented. The idea is to do away with forcing students to choose their academic specialisation in the first year.

Students would also be eligible to apply for a PhD immediately after graduation, without having to add a two-year masters programme, as is the norm in the majority of Indian institutions.

“At the end of four years our students would be fit for PhDs and won’t need a separate masters degree. Many top-ranking universities in India and abroad would be happy to accept them,” said Chandan Dasgupta, dean of undergraduate education at IISc.

American institutions usually require four years of undergraduate education to be eligible for a masters or PhD course. Indian students going to the US for postgraduate studies are often required to do a year of preparatory study to add the extra year.

“We don’t know yet whether the four-year programme will be significantly different from the three-year programme. Although the university does have some degree of interdisciplinary studies it is still in its early stages. Providing students with several options will be a challenge,” said Saikat Banerjee, a Delhi University student.

Vice-chancellor Singh also admitted that there would be “several impediments”.

“Old habits die hard and there will be a section of teachers who will resist [the change]. But there is a lot of enthusiasm too. We will launch the discussion process soon,” Singh told University World News.

Shortage of faculty is another major issue. According to government data, the 42 central universities including the University of Delhi have nearly one-third of teaching posts vacant.

A recent education ministry task force said the lecturer-to-student ratio in the country is 1:21, against the 1:13.5 recommended by the University Grants Commission (UGC). And extra funding may be needed from the UGC for certain colleges, to strengthen some subjects that will be taken in the more general first year.

“Such a move has to be well thought through. Several things need to be done including a change of curriculum and the attitude of both teachers and students towards college education,” said Professor PT Chande, president of the Association of Indian Universities.