Says it will withdraw affiliation if they fail to meet norms
From the next academic year, the University of Madras will withdraw affiliation for courses in arts and science colleges if the faculty fails to fulfil its qualification norms and those of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Releasing the placement brochure of the Department of Management Studies on Wednesday, University of Madras Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam said the university had sent a circular to all affiliated colleges following a recent Madras High Court order to ensure the faculty had the required educational qualifications.
A meeting of the secretaries and correspondents of all affiliated colleges would be convened in October to insist on the need to follow the latest regulations of the UGC.
Experts sent by the university would also ensure that classes in all regular (day college) and evening college courses were handled by qualified faculty. Exceptions could be made in the case of courses such as library science, computer science and catering and hotel management.
As the new regulation could not be implemented mid-year as students would be affected, he said the university was granting six months to colleges.
From the next academic year, affiliated colleges would not be able to offer courses without obtaining the qualification approval for teachers from the university.
For faculty who had served for 10 and 20 years, the eligibility criteria at the time of their recruitment would have to be considered for regularisation of services by the respective colleges.
Similarly, the university would not allow colleges to permit teachers of regular courses to handle evening college classes too. Colleges would not be permitted to use single infrastructure to run courses for the day and evening colleges.
R. Venkatanarayananan, HR – head, Rane Group; S. Ravi Shankar, senior vice-president, India Cements; S. Rustom, associate vice-president, TCS BPO and P.T. Srinivasan, head, Department of Management Studies, University of Madras, addressed the students.
Keywords: University of Madras, UGC, educational qualifications
It is really a good move towards reform in eduation.There are two things to be considered. will the person with 5 years of experience or clearance of UGC NET would do justice to the profession.if that is the case what about the 30% of staff members with 3 to 5 years of experience without clearing NET?I feel this is ridiculous to state them as not qualified teachers.these people would have started their career in teaching and we should not discriminte them.let them have an opportunity to clear UGC NET and do their research programmes.
I feel that all the aspects should be considered and self financing colleges should follow UGC pay scales to the qualified teachers and encourage others who has started their career in teaching.
What is questioned is not UGC’s right to devise a test for recruitment of competent teachers in higher education but the validity of the NET in its current form for this purpose. In its present form, NET is a retrograde step in testing and higher education. What it seeks to test is rote learning – a technique of testing that is obsolete now.
Besides testing memory, paper I tests teaching and research knowledge and not aptitude as it claims to do. Even the subject specific paper II is geared to the same end; and paper III is no better than present M.A. question papers of our universities. Testing rote-learning leads to all sorts of ills that plague our teaching and testing today and academic reformers have often pointed these out from time to time. Testing has a very strong backwash effect on both teachers and teaching; bad testing produces bad teachers and perpetuates bad teaching and NET in its present form will do only that. We expect UGC to devise a better test for producing competent teachers and researchers for improving higher education in India and continue the status quo prevailing before its notification of 2009 till it comes out with a valid test.
It is disheartening to note that private colleges have expanded so much without faculty qualification and they dont pay the teachers the UGC pay scales even if tney are qualified.Its high time authorities take note of their plight and stop these well educated teachers from being exploited.
What will happen to those hundreds of teachers who are employed in these colleges without the required qualification? Is it really possible to take stands on issues like this?
It will be a dream come true which is never going to happen. Reform in the educational sector not only in the private but in the government colleges and universities are the need of the hour. Why target the self-financing colleges alone which at-least offers some hope and livelihood for the discriminated few. And it the University authorities which inspects and provides affiliation. For most of colleges prefer to recruit (though qualified faculties are available) only unqualified teachers to exploit at every stage. In providing salaries, increments and promotions. Not only that, Universities does not provides enough opportunities for the faculties to upgrade themselves. For those who are not UGC-NET qualified should at least have a Ph.d. to be recruited in a teaching position. For which if you approach the University departments to do part-time Ph.d. You will be surprised and if not you are lucky. I myself a victim of this crime. Working for more than eight years in colleges as a lecturer, i feel Discrimination runs deep. This is India. All the universities in the state run the distance education courses and it is stated by the DEC and UGC degrees offered by them are equally recognized qualification for appointment. To our countries shame, academician in the university say those who have done their degree through distance education are not eligible to do research in the university departments or for appointment in the Universities even if the candidate holds a UGC-NET qualification. I would like to quote few words from the article "An Unequal Opportunity Commission" in "THE HINDU" by Farah Naqvi, Prohibiting discrimination and creating equal opportunity conditions — both are needed. One without the other will not work. We cannot legislate against bias and prejudice in the hearts and minds of people, but we can and we must legislate against discrimination in how the fruits of development are distributed among the citizens.
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