Weak Foundations

In less than a week, as I write this [July 2013], some 60,000 students would be entering the University of Delhi as undergraduates. These young adults, coming from various regions of the country and with diverse academic and socio-economic backgrounds, comprise a fairly representative cross-section of our educated youth. The University of Delhi, being a premier institution of higher education, attracts students from all over the country who, despite all the hardships of coming to a new metropolitan city, look forward to a good education and an undergraduate degree that is respected both by the academia and the market. Unfortunately, this year’s newly enrolled undergraduates are going to be not so lucky. Instead of a well-respected, three year undergraduate course which the university was undoubtedly proud of, they will be guinea pigs entering a lab as subjects of a new experiment – the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP).