The varsity authorities are seriously considering adding one more year to the currently three years of graduation by 2013. Metrolife talks to the students and finds out how they feel about this shift of four long years of graduation.

The DU vice chancellor Dinesh Singh recently put forth the proposal and planning for it has started already. According to the scheme, all graduation courses would be restructured to allow students to study a mix of subjects from various streams in the first year and then move on to their areas of interest in the subsequent years.

While those who wish to opt out of their course in the second year will get a diploma certificate, those who do the same in the third year will get a general degree. Only those who complete full four years of graduation will get an honours degree. The aim, the VC said, is to bring the DU graduation courses at par with the four year long grads offered by foreign universities.

While students of the commerce and science streams have welcomed the move largely, humanities students are skeptical about its benefits. For example, Chandramouli Bannerjee, in his final year of graduation in Economics (hons) from Hindu College is happy with the change. He says, “I have been applying to universities abroad like the Harvard, University of Virginia and Florida for masters degree, but I’m forced to take up a combined masters and PhD, because they don’t accept anybody who’s done less than 16 years of studies till graduation. I am glad that my juniors won’t face the same problem.”

Other than economics, students of commerce and maths are also rejoicing the move, primarily because of the huge volume of curriculum they have to endure in just three years of graduation. Shashank Gupta, a first year student of BCom (hons) at Ramjas College says, “It will be a huge relief if they can distribute the weight of the syllabus over four years. At the moment, the way we are studying, we have no time to study a topic more than what is required to clear the exams.”

Science stream students are also viewing this change positively, as it would bring their graduation at par with the four years of BTech that The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) offer. Alina Haider, pursuing Physics Honours at St Stephen College says, “I think it’s a very good step. In spite of studying so hard for three years, we lag behind BTechs from IITs when it comes to placements and salary packages offered. This step will help us stand equal to them in the competitive market.”

However, humanities students are not so sure where a four year long graduation will leave them standing at the end. Akshay Karthik, doing English (hons) from Kirori Mal College says, “Frankly, I am quite wary of this move. English Honours students don’t get a job easily as the course is not market oriented. Will an additional fourth year help me get a job? It is all very nice to be able to enjoy another year of college life, but then there is life beyond college too.”