DU Economics Teachers Oppose Syllabus Change Proposal

Delhi University (DU) economics teachers have requested vice-chancellor (V-C) Yogesh Singh to reconsider the Academic Council’s May 26 proposal to drop the three elective papers on ‘Economy, State and Society’, ‘Production Relations and Globalisation’, and ‘Economics of Discrimination’ under the National Education Policy.

The teachers have termed the proposalincomprehensible because they have been taught for more than 40 years and have no ideological inclination.

“The papers were designed to give students a deeper understanding of theory and a sense of the contemporary world,” Kirori Mal Collegeassociate professor Saumyajit Bhattacharya told Newsclick over the phone.

“The papers,very popular among students, introduced them to multiple theories—from [Karl] Marx to [Joseph Alois] Schumpeter”.

Bhattacharyaadded that students were taught “about Ford cars and how they introduced new patterns of mass production and how the role of finance increased after the 1970s. Similarly, what is happening when we see identities of gender, caste, race and disability through the eyes of an economist? If somebody concluded that these themes had any ideological inclination, they were completely wrong”.

Bhattacharya, involved in designing the course, further added that these papers are taught in private and foreign universities. “How will students contribute to discipline if they miss out on such debates?” he saidabout the academic loss if the papers are dropped.

According to C Saratchand, a professor of Satyawati College, the papers gave an alternative perspective to students and they used it to understand their work in the public and private sectors.

“The papers were earlier read in Political Economy-I and Political Economy-II. The third paper, Economics of Discrimination, is new. We saw issues of caste and gender in it. During the last Academic Council meeting, V-C Singh said that a paper on BR Ambedkar should be introduced buthis main focus was on dropping the papers,” Saratchand added.

Council member Monami Basusaid that the papers are “essential in understanding societies and communities. Students read about how societies and communities evolved and how surplus affected them. The core papers dealt with the capitalist mode of production whereas these papers introduced alternate perspectives”.

A letter written by the economics faculty members from several colleges to the V-C on Thursday read: “We have now come to know that the committee has probably recommended the merger of the first two courses into one course and it has altogether recommended the deletion of the third course. These recommendations are to be taken up for consideration in the Standing Committee meeting on 14.06.2023.”

The committee had two specific mandates: a) to avoid overlapping similarities between courses and b) to include the economics of developed countries in the course content, according to the letter.

“Given this, we categorically state here that there are no overlaps whatsoever between these three courses or with any other course in the proposed economics curriculum. A cursory glance at the course structures and reading lists will clearly establish this. Therefore, the committee’s decision to merge the courses or delete a course goes against the very mandate the committee was set up with,” the letter read.

The signatories of the letter wrote that ‘Economy, State and Society’ is a DSE listed in Semester III package, which has already been approved by the Academics and the Executive Council along with the other Semester III papers in February 2023. “There is no reason and scope to open up the discussion on this paper, which has already been approved by the EC.”

Further, a “paper with broadly similar content as this one has been taught in the university as either a part of the compulsory or optional package for over 40 years under different nomenclatures. This is one of the essential papers covering value and crisis theory—topics which need to be there in any good economics curriculum. Other than Marx, the paper covers thinkers of different persuasions like Joseph Schumpeter and Robert Heilbroner”.

The teachers maintained that “Economics of Discrimination is a newly designed paper covering crucial aspects of discrimination such as caste, race and gender. This is a very topical paper with an absolutely contemporary reading list. It is ironical when in the same AC meeting, the honourable vice-chancellor has himself taken interest that a course on the economics of Dr BR Ambedkar should be designed, a course on economics of discrimination, which includes the writings of Dr Ambedkar along with contemporary academic writings, is being eliminated”.

The BA (H) Economics programme is a “flagship component of the University of Delhi. All courses of this programme constitute an integrated whole which has been arrived at after unprecedentedly participative and detailed discussions and deliberations. Therefore, any suggestions regarding the making changes to these courses or addition of new courses are welcome but these should indeed be made to the Committee of Courses of the Department of Economics”.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta did not respond to Newsclick’s calls for comment.