Nizam College students protest against dropping of Integrated Chemistry course; OU VC clarifies

Students of Nizam College, Hyderabad have been protesting for the past month against Osmania University’s (OU) decision to scrap the five-year Integrated Course in Chemistry. 

For the last 33 days, students, scholars, and student unions have been raising their voices against this move, and demanding that the course be re-introduced. 

The Bahujan Students’ Federation (BSF), which is leading the protests, alleges that the college’s Department of Chemistry was neither consulted nor was a resolution passed before scrapping the course. In a statement, they claim that the university decided to drop the course on a personal request from the Principal of Nizam College.

Speaking to EdexLive, Karunakar, Founder and National Co-ordinator of the BSF, says “The course was being offered by Nizam College for a very long time. Recently, even a new facility building for this course was established. If the college removes the course all of a sudden, people would think twice before joining the college. Moreover, the university should also think about how it would affect the students!”

The statement further questions the university for not even consulting with students alumni, scholars and professors of the department, and not considering issues like equality, financial constraints and educational exit. 

OU VC speaks
Osmania University, on its part, justified the move by saying that the course was no more financially viable. “The number of students enrolling for the course and joining the course has come down in the last 10 years. We have also not been able to fill the faculty positions. Moreover, despite being an integrated course, students are dropping off in their third year. In total, we had incurred a loss of Rs 25 lakh because of this course,” says OU Vice-Chancellor Professor D Ravinder Yadav. 

However, according to the BSF, this is not the case. They say that students from the course, both current and former, deem this course a success. “Former students are also of the opinion that their course is well received and the college should continue with the course,” they say in their statement. They also add that the course still continues to attract students, and has bright employment prospects.   

The VC also adds that the university has added three more in-demand courses as a replacement for this course. “It is our job to periodically see which courses are relevant and update them,” he states. 

“Despite protesting for over a month, meetings with the VC of Osmania University, and even with Telangana Education Minister Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy, the university has not restored the course,” says Karunakar. 

Not the first instance
According to BSF, this is not the first time that a course in the college was scrapped. 

Previously, Osmania University also removed the MCom course in the Nizam College for similar reasons, and without heeding the demands of the students. However, the university re-introduced the course after one academic year. 

Urging the university to learn from this instance, BSF requested that the Integrated Chemistry course be reinstated in their statement.