The National Eligibility Test is widely accepted as the basic qualification for appointment as teachers in colleges all over the country. However, NET-qualified candidates applying in the aided colleges affiliated to Calicut University are left in a lurch, thanks to a university order that values Ph.D. papers and marks in the qualifying examination more than the national-level test conducted by the University Grants Commission.
As per the new scheme of weightage under the said order (No:GA II/F3/3788/11dated 03-02-2012), academic qualifications get 40 marks while NET alone gets 0 marks. However, combined with MPhil or Ph.D., the NET holder gets 5 and 10 marks respectively.
Here, the tug of war is between candidates with either NET or Ph.D.
As publications, presentations and research projects are criteria for appointments as per the new order, a Ph.D. holder, who naturally has a number of publications, presentations and research papers to his/her credit automatically scores higher than the candidates with only NET.
As per the UGC mandate, the Ph.D. holders shall be considered for appointment only if NET qualified candidates are absent, or they could even be given equal chance.
Memorandum sent
A group of NET-holders have sent a memorandum to various agencies, including the Chief Minister and MPs, requesting them to stop the misuse of the order, which enables the managements to squeeze in candidates of their choice without following the norms.
A NET-holder, upon condition of anonymity told The Hindu that managements often award undue marks to the publications, presentations, and research papers to candidates of their choice.
“Having more Ph.D. holders in the faculty proves advantageous to them in the time of NAAC accreditation visits,” he added.
‘A superior test’
The NET holders’ group in their memorandum questioned the quality of the Ph.D. holders while maintaining that NET was superior since it was a national-level test conducted in a stringent manner.
They also questioned the use of marks of qualifying examination as criteria for selection, since the examination procedure and award of marks are not uniform all over the country. They lamented the move of Kerala Public Service Commission to consider the marks as well for the appointment of assistant professors in government colleges.
