Engineering teachers cry foul over tweaking rules

Open selection as Principal, Professor, Associate Professor

Over 300 faculty members of government engineering colleges in the State are up in arms against the Higher Education Department and the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) alleging denial of promotion and tweaking of rules to the benefit of some.

The move comes three days after the completion of open selection of candidates for the posts of Principal, Professor, and Associate Professor in nine colleges.

More than 170 teachers attended the interviews which began on September 29. Fourteen teachers stayed away from the selection process as a mark of protest.

The 300 teachers included 62 Professors and Assistant Professors who were reverted to lower cadres on the basis of a Kerala High Court verdict expunging rule 6(A) of the Special Rules for the Kerala Technical Education Service. The names of teachers without PhDs and the experience prescribed by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) were removed earlier from the list prepared in 2008.

AICTE rule

Senior faculty members, who were denied opportunity to attend the interview, said the AICTE had made no changes in its rules (from 2002 to 2008) that the teachers with M.Tech. qualification could be promoted on condition that they must get the doctorate within seven years.

Alleging favouritism in the latest open selection process, the teachers accused the department of having changed the criteria for awarding marks thrice to protect the interests of a few applicants. They said nearly 10 faculty members were promoted as Associate Professors three days before the last date for submitting the applications for the open selection.

Reservation and seniority would be set aside once the list was regularised, the teachers said adding that they would step up the agitation against the denial of rights.

Some teachers had got a stay from the Supreme Court against their downgrade, they said.

Denying allegations, senior DTE officials said the open selection process was conducted as per AICTE norms. The directives of the High Court had been adhered to, they said. sSome teachers were trying to hide the facts related to the relaxation of norms and hence it lacked legal basis, they added.