After the college authorities promised a modern syllabus, an inter-college festival, an annual seminar, an art gallery on the campus and toilets that flush, the students at College of Art decided to withdraw their strike. They, however, warned that the strike may be continued if the promises are not kept. The strike that went on for 24 days demanded all these, and much more by the protesting students at the College of Art in Delhi. “The biggest win for us is that we can now form a students’ body to analyse the policies of the college and pressure the faculty and administration to do their jobs,” a student Meet Narang, a final student, said.
Students at College of Art celebrating on Thursday. (Image Source: indianexpress.com)
The main goal of the students’ protests was changing the college syllabus which, they said, had become obsolete. The protesting students had demanded for a revised curriculum, and also increase the number of guest lectures by visiting artists. Authorities have promised to form a committee, comprising of the faculty, three to four eminent artists and a student, within a time period of four months to work on updating the syllabus. The art gallery, another main demand of the strike which authorities have agreed upon, will have two halls dedicated to the college’s archival collection of works by masters. The remaining rooms will exhibit art pieces created by teachers and final-year students.
“An engineer from the Public Works Department (PWD) will visit the college in three days to assess its infrastructure and decide what needs to be fixed. The deadlines to make the other areas functional is between one week and four months,” said Nitish Arora, a student. However, the much discussed ‘footpath classes’, the sessions by eminent artists on the pavement outside the college gate during the strike will continue, said students.