What about us, ask students of four-year course

Delhi University's decision to rollback the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) Friday has given lakh of aspirants a reason to cheer. However, those admitted to the programme last year have been left clueless about their future.

As the focus has been on starting the admission process, there has not been much clarity about the ones who are already admitted under the programme.

"I am extremely delighted that FYUP has been scrapped. We were not at all comfortable studying the syllabus under FYUP," Aayush Gupta, B.Com (Honours) student of Ramjas College told IANS.

Gupta was happy with the development, but was also anxious about how their course will be designed.

"Under the FYUP, there were many foundation and applied courses. But now it will be reverting back to the old system. This means lot of changes," added Gupta.

He said becasue of the fight between Delhi University (DU) and the University Grants Commission (UGC), the students suffered.

"It was introduced abruptly last time. And the same has happened this time too. There is no clarity for us. We want to know what will happen to us. No one is giving us the answer," he added.

Echoing similar feelings, Iqbal Naveed, economics honours student of College of Vocational Studies, told IANS that completing the four-year designed course in three-year will put an extra burden on students.

"We are happy for the juniors who will be admitted under the three years, but for us there will be a lot of burden," said Naveed.

Similarly, the B.Tech students are a worried lot. After an assurance from the UGC, they ended their protest. But their situation is yet to be resolved.

"I joined DU because I was getting a B.Tech degree. Now with the restoration of the three-year programme, there will be no B.Tech course. We want to know about our course and our degree," Ansh Goyal, student of B.Tech computer science at Maharaja Agrasen College, told IANS.

Goyal says he left Manipal Institute and joined DU as they were giving four-year degree.

It was for the first time last year that DU introduced B.Tech in computer science, food technology, instrumentation electronics, polymer science and psychological science.

At the moment, there are no clear answers from DU officials whether these courses will be retained. The UGC is understood to have assured the students of a decision soon.

There are about 2,500 students admitted under the B.Tech programme.

"We want four-year B.Tech course as studying three-year will mean taking a B.Sc degree. If UGC does not retain our course, we will go to the Supreme Court. We have already approached the Delhi High Court," Akshay Kachroo, instrumentation and electronic student of Maharaja Agresen college told IANS.

To ensure that they get their degrees, the B.Tech students have planned a protest Saturday outside the Prime Minister's Office.

Similarly the Bachelors (Honours) in Management Studies (BMS) students are also questioning their future as the course was introduced under FYUP.

"I do not know what will happen with the BMS programme. We have finished one year. Now lets see what DU decides for us. It is our future they are talking about. How, we get justice," Simran Singh told IANS.