New Delhi: The Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) has urged Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh to urgently issue revised evaluation guidelines for undergraduate research under the fourth-year Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF), 2022, alleging that students and teachers have been left without clarity on the assessment structure despite an increase in credits.In a letter dated November 6, 2026, addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, the teachers’ body said the university had increased the credits for the Dissertation/Academic Project/Entrepreneurship track from six to 10 through a notification issued on July 10, 2026, but had not announced the corresponding evaluation scheme.The DTF pointed out that the revised 10-credit structure would require an assessment framework for 400 marks, compared with the earlier 240 marks for six credits. It said the seventh semester was nearing completion, with fourth-year students still awaiting clarity on the revised guidelines.Mithuraaj Dhusiya, elected member of the Delhi University Executive Council, criticised the administration over the delay.”It is extremely unfortunate that the Delhi University administration has been continuously failing to timely notify students-teachers basic information about changes in syllabi and various assessment structures. 7th semester is about to end in a fortnight and yet DU has not provided any information about UG research credit guidelines,” Dhusiya said.DTF questions university’s handling of fourth-year researchThe DTF’s letter said the university’s notifications dated September 30, 2025, for seventh-semester evaluation and January 8, 2026, for eighth-semester evaluation were based on the earlier maximum of 240 marks, corresponding to six credits.The organisation said advance information about assessment requirements was essential for students and teachers to plan their academic work. It urged the university to issue updated guidelines for both the seventh and eighth semesters on an urgent basis.Abha Dev Habib, secretary of the DTF and associate professor at Miranda House, also criticised the university administration, questioning the impact of repeated delays on students.In a strongly worded statement titled How to destroy a premier University!, Habib said, “Yet another batch of 4th year students is feeling cheated by the callousness of the University administration.”She added that the university had increased the credits for undergraduate research from six to 10, raising the assessment requirement from 240 to 400 marks, but had not issued revised guidelines to reflect the change.”How can a University do this again and again to its students,” she asked.Habib also linked the issue to concerns over student enrolment and experiences under the UGCF. She said vacant seats could be attributed both to what she described as an irrational CUET process and the impact of negative experiences of previous batches under the framework.Criticising what she described as a lack of accountability within the university administration, she also referred to the termination of a Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE) faculty member, alleging that the university had acted over ego issues while administrative lapses affecting students had gone unaddressed.What changed in the July notification?The University of Delhi’s July 10, 2026 notification, issued under the UGCF 2022, introduced changes to the academic structure for the fourth year, effective from the 2026-27 academic session.Under the revised arrangement, four credits earlier assigned to Discipline Specific Core (DSC) courses in semesters VII and VIII were shifted to the academic track comprising Dissertation, Academic Project or Entrepreneurship. This increased the academic track from six to 10 credits in each semester, taking the total to 20 credits across the two semesters.The notification also provided that students would choose three courses in each of semesters VII and VIII. The options include three Discipline Specific Electives (DSEs), two DSEs and one Generic Elective (GE), or one DSE and two GEs.The DTF has further argued that the revised assessment guidelines should incorporate feedback from students and teachers who have experienced the fourth-year research programme.It has cautioned against treating the increase in credits as justification for imposing unrealistic research output expectations, including mandatory Scopus-indexed publications, books, book chapters, patents or presentations at recognised national and international conferences.The teachers’ body said the duration of research engagement was an important factor in ensuring depth and quality, as well as the possibility of publications.It has called on the university to address the concerns and announce the revised evaluation framework without further delay.
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