After protests, changes in UILS course syllabus put on hold

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service 

Chandigarh, December 1

After protests by social science faculties of Panjab University (PU) Regional Centres of Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur, changes in syllabus of five-year law course of University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) for 2018-19 has been put on hold as of now. A sub-committee has been formed to look into the matter.

As per the proposal, major and minor subjects will be removed from the curriculum of BA-LLB course, reducing the number of social sciences papers.

According to teachers of social sciences at the Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur centres, the new syllabus scheme is highly disproportionate in nature as law subjects are four times more than that of social sciences.

Under the proposed scheme, of the total 58 subjects, 46 are of law and 12 are of social sciences and languages. The ratio of BA subjects and law subjects will be 6:23 roughly.

“This is not an equitable manner of integrating two courses and it is highly unscientific and discriminatory as well,” said one of the representations from a regional centre.

The teachers have submitted that the new scheme is violating the UGC rule, that stipulated minimum 16 hours direct teaching per week as the minimum for an assistant professor to claim even a single point, under the Category I of the UGC Notification, dated July 11, 2016.

Teachers said social sciences faculty would now have only five lectures per week. The minimum score in this category is 80 of 100 which would impact their career prospects.

“Further, audit objections will also be raised by the university regarding our working hours as we will lose claim to our salaries which will be highly incommensurate to our teaching hours,” the teachers said.

“It is against the spirit of the Bar Council of India which has mandated it to be an integrated course with honours in major subjects,” they said.

They alleged that the new scheme had been planned keeping in mind only problems of the UILS, which has the advantage of having a BCom-LLB course in which the social science faculty’s workload can be fulfilled.

“To resolve it, we have formed a sub-committee. The main objection is over the teaching hours. It was discussed in a recent board of studies meeting also,” said Prof Rattan Singh, Director, UILS, PU.