5-day-a-week plan in PU colleges: Punjab, UT not on same page

The proposal to run Panjab University-affiliated colleges five days a week has been received with cynicism in Punjab, even as institutions in Chandigarh have expressed their willingness.

The director, public instructions (colleges), Punjab, has written to Panjab University authorities that the colleges in Punjab will not be able to implement the ‘five-day a week’ in colleges.

Dean, college development council, PU, Naval Kishore, who is the convener of the committee said, “DPI (Colleges) has sent a denial that the colleges in Punjab will not be able to follow the system. But we have still been insisting that we should have a meeting to discuss on the issue since the colleges in the city do not have a problem in implementing the system.”

Meanwhile, the principals of the Chandigarh colleges insist on the fact that the system of five days a week in colleges should be implemented in the city at least if Punjab is not willing to follow the same.

An eight-member committee was constituted to work out the modalities for the system. It was chaired by the Dean University Instructions (DUI), PU.

Commenting on the issue, BC Josan, principal of DAV College, Sector 10 and also a member of the committee said, “In a meeting, I had strongly recommended that our colleges should immediately implement the system for our benefit since in our city colleges, students do not come on Saturday and if they come at all, then there is a very poor attendance.”

He added, “We belong to UT and we follow separate rules. All our city college principals are very much in favour of the system and we had said we would not mind if timings of the college would have to change for this.”

However, the college principals in Punjab said it is the state government that is not willing to get the system implemented in the colleges in the state.

It was in 2014 when the syndicate members had raised this issue of implementing the five days a week in all the affiliated colleges as is followed by the Panjab University. There are a total of 184 colleges affiliated to PU within Punjab and UT area.