New Delhi: The Delhi University has officially notified that its colleges and institutions are expected to function from 8 am to 8 pm for "optimal utilisation" of resources.
The July 31 directive said the decision was taken after deliberations in the Executive Council meeting on July 12.
The order comes ahead of the session, which for the first time includes students entering the fourth year under the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP).
The expansion has raised concerns among faculty about infrastructure and manpower constraints.
"In order to achieve this and to ensure availability of faculty and staff during the period, the deployment of faculty and staff be staggered," the notification stated.
It said that senior regular faculty members should be given the responsibility of teaching and guiding fourth-year students, and guest faculty may be deployed wherever necessary.
Rudrashish Chakraborty, an associate professor at Kirori Mal College, denounced the order.
"8 am to 8 pm schedule of the colleges has now got an official stamp of approval from the University, thereby forcing the colleges to adopt such a draconian, anti-teacher and anti-student notification," he said.
He said the order mandates teachers work "even if there is no space for teachers to sit and work" and ignores the safety concerns of teachers and students commuting at odd hours.
Abha Dev Habib, a faculty member from Miranda House, questioned the logic behind the order, which potentially pushes first-year teaching to guest or less experienced faculty.
"This is no way to welcome a new batch into a university or discipline," she said.
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