Shut integrated courses, say Punjabi varsity students

Patiala, May 4

Students of Punjabi University today demanded the termination of the five-year integrated courses.

They alleged that the institution had failed to hire new faculty members and provide adequate infrastructure to run the courses.

Student representatives of various organisations, including Punjab Radical Students’ Union, Punjab Students’ Union (PSU), Punjab Students’ Union Lalkaar, All-India Students’ Federation and Students Federation of India, today submitted a memorandum to the university administration and sought the termination of the courses.

The students said they would resort to protest if the university failed to shut the integrated courses.

The students’ unions alleged that the courses were being taught in the auditoriums on the campus. “The university has failed to provide classes, separate faculty for these courses. As such, the students are forced to run across the campus to attend classes at different places,” a student said.

According to the students, issues like the syllabus, number of subjects, confusion between open elective and minor subjects, selection of the main subject and others have become a cause of concern.

The student organisations said they wanted the university to shut the five-year courses, or else they would have to launch a protest against them.

The university, on the other hand, today conducted a workshop on dealing with stress for the first year students of the five-year integrated courses, who will be appearing in the exams soon.