Here's what EFLU Hyderabad students are protesting against

The students have been boycotting classes since January 29

eflu-protest The students have been boycotting classes since January 29 and had conducted a sit-in protest in front of the Administrative Block

The students of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, are protesting against the new circular issued by the administration of the university, which introduced changes to the admission process, evaluation and intake of students for the courses offered. The administration released the circular notifying the changes on January 28.

The students have been boycotting classes since January 29 and had conducted a sit-in protest in front of the Administrative Block, in order to “wait for the VC and other administrative members to give some kind of assurance to students”. The students are now planning to start a 24x7 protest in front of the Gate no.2 of the campus.

Amidst mounting protests, the administration released a new circular, in which it announced that the new decisions would be held in abeyance until further notice. Despite the suspension of the circular, the councillor said that the students will not call off the protest, unless the decisions made by the administration are rolled back.

“Until the circular is withdrawn or the VC decides to initiate dialogue with the protesting students, we will not step back from our protests,” a student councillor at EFLU Hyderabad, who did not wish to be named, clarified.

According to Neville Thomas, an MA second-year student, the only interaction that happened with the administration after the issue began, was with the registrar and other administrative members yesterday. In the meeting, Neville said, the administration was adamant on implementing its new rules. However, as protests continued into the day, the Dean of campus planning and development came out from the Administrative Block to hand out to students the new circular announcing the stay on the new regulations. The stay has been declared until a newly-constituted academic council discusses the new rules, which will happen only after the Vice-Chancellor, who is out of station, returns.

According to the circular, the Standing Committee of the Academic Council recommended introduction of the Bell Curve Grading System for all courses, including UG, PG and PhD. As per the new grading system, in a class of 30 students, only 20 per cent of students will be awarded ‘O’ (Outstanding) grade—the maximum grading awarded to a student. The same per cent of students will be awarded ‘A+’ or ‘A’ grade.

“It is an arbitrary mode of evaluation that discriminates between students, all who come from varying backgrounds. The new grading system cultivates an ableist system which doesn’t consider the students from underprivileged backgrounds,” Neville said.

The new grading system will also create an unhealthy atmosphere of competition among students, who will have to fight over grades, paving way for mental breakdown and depression, he said.

The student councillor said the Bell Curve Grading System would also affect job prospects of students. “If they cannot score the expected grade, it can seriously harm their chances when they apply for jobs and higher studies.”

“There is also the issue of professors having to choose between two students who have equal marks on who will fall under the ‘O’ grade bracket or ‘A+’ bracket,” Neville said.

Another major objection raised was against the drastic reduction in the intake of students for MA courses. This has invited flak from students for limiting the number of student for a course, especially those which have many takers. The administration has also decided to grant seats on a ‘first come first serve basis’, which the students claim will be disadvantageous to those students who cannot register immediately due to various reasons.

“The university has not been consistent in determining a system for the students to register for courses. At times, it is done manually, while on other occasions, online platform is used,” Neville said.

“As far as online mode is concerned, the platform is currently broken,” he added, citing that this could lead to troubles for students while registering for these courses.

The administration had also decided to make sit-in examinations mandatory for evaluation for all courses. For a humanities and social sciences university, sit-in examinations may “contradict the nature of study of disciplines that are research-oriented,” argued the Student’s Union’s statement. It terms sit-in exams as a “regressive move” and “detrimental” to fostering academic excellence.

Neville said that sit-in exams are “impractical” for programmes and courses which require a lot of practical work. “It destroys research mentality among research scholars,” he said.

Another change introduced by the administration is the exemption of PhD candidates, who are also JRF holders, from attending the written exam. The new rules state that JRF holders need only appear for the interview, which is out of 30 marks. According to the Union, the university has not provided any explanation as to how it will convert the 30 marks from the interview into 100 marks. This would provide the JRF-holding PhD candidates an unfair upper hand over non-JRF candidates while determining their admission to PhD courses, said Neville, thereby creating a hierarchy where some applicants are more privileged than others.

In an ordinance released simultaneously by the university on its website, the administration has decided to categorise sit-ins, gheraos, demonstrations, hunger strikes and other similar acts of protest as ‘misconduct’. This ordinance, titled Ordinance-61, has been often pointed out by the administration as a reminder of its ability to take severe action against its students, said Neville. “Whenever the students gather to agitate against an issue, we are served this ordinance as a warning in order to break our protest.”

The student councillor said that this ordinance has been ‘consistently’ fought against by the university students.

The teacher’s association at EFLU has also extended solidarity with the students in their protest against the new regulations. “The teacher’s association has recognised the nature of the reforms introduced by the administration and has decided to side with the students,” Neville said.

The changes to the rules regarding admission, intake and evaluation have not been specified in the prospectus, according to the students. Neville pointed out, “The new rules violate the prospectus which is the binding document applicable to all applicants for the academic year. These rules cannot be brought out for the upcoming academic year as it has not been specified in the prospectus.

“The circular which introduces these regulations, says that it was brought into force from January 20, one day before the application process for the new academic year ended. However, the circular was released only on the January 28.”

The new rules introduced by the administration have come under criticism from the student body as it has been brought to force by a standing committee that, in fact, has no power to legislate on such issues. Neville said that the standing committee is empowered only to make decisions related to fee structure. Adding to this is the fact that the academic council has not yet been constituted.

“How can a standing committee of a non-existent body make such decisions?” said Neville.

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