EDUCATION

Noam Chomsky comes calling for change
A treat for D-school
Gaurav Choudhury

Delhi University (DU) this week was treated to a rare intellectual treatise. One of the greatest contemporary and perhaps the clearest voice of dissent in American history, Prof Noam Chomsky, came calling on the campus to deliver lectures in two of the most prestigious institutions of the country - the Delhi School of Economics and St Stephen's College.

For the Delhi School of Economics, affectionately called D-School, Prof Chomsky's lecture provided food for deep introspection and also perhaps break apart from the traditional strand of thought that West is the best. The Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said that it was found that empirically globalisation was creating a sharper divide between the rich and the poor and, more importantly, among the rich and poor nations.

Prof Chomsky, once described by The New York Times as "arguably the most important intellectual alive", forcefully brought out the argument that volatility would only increase in financial markets with growing globalisation. This, in turn, will translate into lower rates of growth. "This is a lesson which India should learn. A neo-liberal policy could be destructive for India," he said. For D-School, the lecture came at the right time, as in the recent times, there has been a perceptible change in the thinking within the school with the western models of growth beginning to hold centre-stage. In a pointed reference to India's colonial history, he said: "It is not the landlords that were poor that was the issue. In fact, they had enormous wealth. It was the penury of the peasants."

"It (globalisation) was harming a lot many people, undermining sovereignty and democratic rights and leading to plenty of resistance," he pointed out, adding that the establishment of free-trade zones such as brought about by the North American Free Trade Treaty was completely in the interest of the United States. In fact, per capita income had fallen sharply when compared to pre-globalisation period (Bretton Woods System), he said. On the current war against terror, the MIT professor said: "The attack on Afghanistan, planned by the US and its allies, is of immense human tragedy. Despite repeated pleas by the United Nations to stop the bombing, the US Government and media completely ignored it." The Chomsky lecture in D-School was delivered in the traditional Indian style, from under a tree beside the lecture hall where modern-day economists impart knowledge on the models of growth.

CAMPUS
Jamia Millia all charged up

Jamia Millia Islamia is witnessing a spate of activities these days. While its walls are adorned with new paint and pictures, big iron gates are erected at all main entrances making it difficult for outsiders to enter without an identification card.

Ever since Syed Shahid Mahdi has taken over as the Vice-Chancellor two years back, the university has undergone a sea change. Computerisation of its famous Maulana Azad Library, upgrading of the finance library, launch of several computer labs and introduction of MSc and BSc courses in biotechnology, postgraduate diploma in Hindi, English, Urdu, TV journalism, and use of information technology in various courses are only to name a few of the changes brought about on the campus.

The day-to-day academic, cultural, sports and structural activities have also got a new spring in their stride. "Never has been this university so charged up earlier. Every second day, we are preparing for some academic or cultural programme," says Anu Priya, an old student and activist who is doing BEd from the university.

"The best part is we get our library cards and bus passes in a single day unlike earlier when they used to take several days," adds a student of sociology, though she laments the lack of space in her department. "Due to lack of seating space, students literally sit on roads in free periods, becoming an easy target of eve-teasers," she complains. The security guards patrolling the campus is now a regular feature. “Earlier, it used to be very difficult for us to venture out of the classes even on the campus for fear of street-side teasers. Now the strict vigil on trespassers has helped us move freely," says a geography student.

“I owe the ongoing peaceful atmosphere of the university to the stimulated academic and cultural activities held on a very regular basis,” says Syed Shahid Mahdi, the Vice-Chancellor, who is known for sacrificing his evenings for the sake of participating in the academic and cultural activities of the institution. The university is now planning to start a modular course in film appreciation with its Mass Communication and Resear Centre courses soon. Rana A. Siddiqui

Enigmatic festival

The Department of Engineering in Jamia Millia Islamia is all set to create history in a couple of days. For the first time since the university's inception in 1925, the department is organising a mega-event in the form of a cultural festival, namely Enigma.

Over 40 colleges from all over Delhi will be participating in the three-day cultural fest to be held at the M A Ansari Auditorium on the campus beginning from November 9. The programmes will be held from morning till evening.

Being sponsored by Pepsi, Archies Gallery, Livengenes and Wai Wai noodles, the event will be covered by Star and Zee TV.

The fest showcases a good mix of interesting events: a traditional fashion show, 'Star Attraction which will include many cine personalities, 'Rock Nite', antakshari, mimicry, singing, skit, debate and calligraphy competition and graffiti.

For those interested in the luck game, there is Kaun Banega Luckpati and for lovers of poetry, Mushaira and Shame-e-Ghazal will be the main temptations. Many political leaders and film stars are likely to attend the function. "The idea is to give Jamia students maximum interaction with the student fraternity all over Delhi who hardly know engineering students for, the spotlight is always restricted on its MCRC," says Fahad, the president of the mega-event.

"The fest is meant not only to explore new dimensions in talent but also to show the world that we are not merely high-dry technocrats but also talented artists," says Praveen, a third year student. The department has another first to its credit related to this fest. They have created awebsite, www.enigmathefest.com.

From strength to strength

The Asia-Pacific Institute of Management held its third annual convocation on Monday. The Minister of Education in the Delhi Government, Dr Narendra Nath, was the chief guest while the president of the National Association for Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), Mr Kiran Karnik, and the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Prof K K Aggarwal, were the guests of honour.

Starting with only one postgraduate programme and 59 students in the first batch in 1996, the institute, which has approval of the All-India Council for Technical Education, today offers six postgraduate and three undergraduate courses. The total number of students has also gone up to 403.

The Institute has global affiliations with leading universities of the USA and Australia, namely the Rochester Institute of Technology and Queensland University of Technology respectively. It also has an academic partnership with global IT giant IBM.

Bunkers and bloomers

Thin attendance in the classes has been the bane of DU and every year, there are several students who spend sleepless nights before the examination schedule actually start. They don't think about the harrowing time ahead when they actually bunk the classes. But more interesting is the bloomers and inconsistency of authorities when it comes to the rules. Some students are refused permission to appear for the examinations as they are found to have shortage of attendance. In some other cases, authorities make students to give an undertaking that they will make up for the lost attendance in the subsequent year.

In the recent times, there have been several instances when students have approached courts to fight against the university rules. In a particular case, a student of IP College for Women was refused permission to appear for the examinations as she was found having a shortage in her attendance. The student, however, approached the court and obtained an interim order in her favour after which she was allowed to appear in the examinations.

In this case, the aggrieved party, a student of BA (Honours) Mathematics, was technically unable to attend classes as she was declared failed in her second year examinations. She sought a revaluation of her papers the results of which were declared in December - a full five months later. Naturally, the student had a shortage in attendance. In the final order later, the Delhi High Court subsequently ruled that since the student fell short of having the minimum 66 per cent attendance as stipulated by the University Ordinance, she was not entitled to appear for the examinations.

This case points to the general apathy of university authorities towards students and also is a pointer to the inconsistent evaluation system which is subject to various value judgements made by different evaluators. On the one hand, the Examination Department ideally must have announced the results after revaluation much earlier, which would have saved precious time and allowed her to attend regular classes. On the other, a different set of examiners had declared her passed, even though she was declared failed by another set of examiners. It's time somebody does something about such inconsistencies