New Delhi: First-year students of Delhi’s National School of Drama (NSD), known as India’s premier cradle for theater training, are struggling to make ends meet. Six months after the start of the year, there is no prescribed curriculum and 11 of the 17 permanent faculty positions are still lying vacant.
Third year students, whose graduation is several months overdue, still have courses they haven’t been taught and no teachers to teach them.
Students’ problem with the management and lack of regularity in classes has become a matter of contention between the two sides, which has brought to a standstill in the institute.
NSD students who have been protesting Since October 3 – eight of them are on hunger strike – say they have stopped attending classes to mark dissatisfaction with the way the institute is functioning.
NSD director Professor Ramesh Chandra Gaur, who took over in May this year, is on temporary deputation. He is also a professor at the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA). Actor Paresh Rawal is the current president of the institute.
After the tenure of the then Director Vaman Kendre ended in September 2018, the institute was headed by Suresh Sharma as Director-in-Charge.
The student union of the institute, which is leading the protest, issued a statement on Thursday saying that they will be on strike until the president and members of the society meet the students on an urgent basis and we will take immediate action on the important issues. do not do. facing.”
However, Gaur has refuted several claims made by the students and said that the meeting of the governing body cannot be held in such a short time unless it is urgent.
He further said that Chairman Rawal will visit the Institute on October 11 to conduct the interview for the post of Director. Director Gaur said, “He has promised to talk to the students and they have also been informed about it.”
Apart from their demand of the permanent director, the students in a statement issued by the student union on Sunday demanded the removal of the registrar of the institute.
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‘We deserve a permanent director’
Tamilasara, a third-year student and spokesperson for the NSD students’ union, told ThePrint, “Our academics are suffering and the quality of learning has declined drastically. Our production budget has been cut by over 50 per cent and we are told time and again that theater is a ‘poor man’s medium’. How will we learn if this keeps happening?”
Another first-year student, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint, “If our classes are scheduled to begin on October 1, the institute sends the courses on September 29. Sometimes even guest faculty does not come to him on time.
Students have been informed that the current syllabus is under review and a new syllabus will be implemented by the next session itself.
The students also allege that not only are the guest teachers not treated well by the institute, but their education suffers a lot due to non-payment of them by the institute on time.
Seeking a permanent director, the students’ union in a statement on Thursday had said, “The functioning of such an institution has a sub-optimal impact on its reputation as experienced by the student body and theaters across the country.” seen by physicians. As an autonomous body, the institute truly deserves a leader with keen interest in theater and a vision for the theater pedagogy of the country. We deserve a permanent director who is a theater practitioner, a theater academic, and someone with a vision for theater and its future. ,
The institute denies the claims
The institute has denied the claims made by the students regarding cuts in their budget.
Director Gaur said, “I have ensured that the students get the best out of everything. This year instead of one, two productions were organized. I have also had international faculty come to campus. Such things have not happened in the last three years.”
Another official of the institute said that the institute has no reason to cut the budget of the students as it is not facing budget constraints. “We had over Rs 12 crore last month. The ministry has been very helpful to us,” the official said.
NSD is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Culture and according to Gaur, a selection committee has been appointed by the ministry to select the new director and fill up the vacancies.
Rubbishing the claims made by the students regarding the syllabus, Gaur told ThePrint, “On October 3, the syllabus till December was shared with first-year students. We have also sought their inputs.”
Speaking to ThePrint, school registrar Jwala Prasad, who was appointed in 2021, said, “Since this is an academic matter, I have nothing to say in it. However, we are trying our best to help the students.”
(Edited by Jinnia Ray Chowdhury)