Federation of Central Universities Teachers Associations (FEDCUTA) has welcomed the Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal’s statement that the policy of ‘persuasion and not the compulsion’ will be followed in the implementation of the semester system in the university. FEDCUTA President Aditya Narayan Mishra says that this shows the government has respected the autonomy of the university and taken care of teachers’ and students’ concerns on the issue of implementation of semester system but the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University is trying to impose the system in a very undemocratic manner.

It is notable that HRD Minister has today told in the Parliament that government will implement the semester system in the universities despite resistance but at the same time he has also said that no time frame has been decided for the implementation of the system. He said that policy of persuasion would be followed as university is an autonomous body.

Teachers of Delhi University have already registered strong protest against the implementation of the semester system in the university. Delhi University Students Union too has registered the protest in this regard. Teachers opposing the semester system are saying that the system can not be implemented without proper infrastructure and manpower. Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) has been demanding a debate on desirability and feasibility of semester system. It has also demanding a General Body Meeting of the teachers of all the discipline and to take their views before going ahead for the implementation of the system.

SS Rathi, former DUTA President too says that it is true that the government has favoured the universalization of the system but at the same time it has not made the proposed system mandatory. The way Delhi University Vice-Chancellor is trying to impose system on the colleges is not just undemocratic but will also prove very harmful for the teaching-learning system in the college.