The interim stay granted by the High Court of Kerala to the directive of the University of Kerala that retired teachers not serve as research guides and that scholars under retired teachers be transferred to other serving teachers has brought some cheer to research scholars who have been campaigning against the university directive.
The University of Kerala had recently passed an order denying the status of research guide to retired teachers pursuant to a clarification issued by the University Grants Commission to this effect. A UGC letter noted that a doctoral degree or an MPhil degree granted to a scholar who is not under a serving teacher shall be a violation of the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Aware of MPhil/PhD) Regulations 1999.
Research scholars under the banner of the Kerala University Research Students’ Union have been demanding that the UGC directive not be made applicable to existing research scholars and that only fresh scholars be brought under its ambit.
Question of continuity
The interim stay by Justice K. Vinod Chandran noted that a research scholar should normally complete the research work within a period of three years or in the extended period of another two years. There is the question of continuity since a research scholar who begins work under a guide needs the guidance of that guide throughout the project.
