ABVP to write to Smriti over CBCS

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Monday said it will write to the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani to express its apprehensions over implementation of Choice Based Credit System from this academic year.

Shreehari Borikar, national general secretary of ABVP, said the new system is workable only in ‘theory’.

“Implementing a system like CBCS has certain requirements. We need infrastructure in universities, we need a healthy student-teacher ratio. Most of the universities don’t have that right now,” he said.

CBCS proposes a common syllabus for all central universities, a common entrance test, faculty and student mobility, and credit transfers.

“We think at the level of post graduate universities, CBCS may still be implementable, but for undergraduate courses, we are still not ready. We will write to the MHRD to voice our concerns,” Borikar added.

Many teacher and student groups in the city have come out in strong opposition against the University Grants Commission’s recent attempt at academic reforms, saying that the new system will compromise with the autonomy of central universities.

ABVP national secretary Rohit Chahal expressed apprehension over the scheme being launched in Delhi University.

“Whether it was the semester system or FYUP, we have never been against changes. But changes should be made keeping the condition of our universities in mind,” he said.

Pointing out infrastructural constraints and skewed student-teacher ratio at DU, he claimed it will take time for the university to be CBCS ready.

“We need more discussion and deliberation on this. For this, ABVP will go between students and teachers again to gauge their views,” he said.

The credit-based system is one of the big ticket announcements made by the HRD ministry this year. Recently, the HRD Minister Smriti Irani informed the Parliament that as many as 18 central universities are on board to introduce credit-based system at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level.