Bharathidasan University (BDU) has sent a second circular to affiliated colleges asking them to comply with its directive to furnish information about the qualification of their faculty members.
Not even 20% of affiliated colleges responded to the university’s first circular issued earlier this year.
“We have also conveyed orally to individual colleges that furnishing details of faculty qualifications is a mandatory requirement,” Vice-Chancellor P. Manisankar said.
The qualification specified by the University Grants Commission — a pass in National Eligibility/State Eligibility Test, or Ph.D — is necessary for aspirants of teaching jobs in colleges and universities.
Only those with the necessary qualification are eligible to take part in refresher or orientation programmes conducted by the Human Resource Development Centres of universities. Under-qualified teachers will not be considered by the university for any role in the Boards of Studies, setting question papers or evaluating answer scripts, Mr. Manisankar said.
The university is understood to have taken note of the reluctance of self-financing colleges (SFCs) to share information about the qualification of their faculties.
The SFCs, in any case, must have on their roles at least 75% of teachers with either a pass in NET/SLET or Ph.D. However, these colleges have not complied with the requirement. A majority of faculty members in many colleges have been working for several years now with only an M.Phil degree. The college managements are also not seemingly bothered to have faculty members with qualifications specified by the UGC since that would mean shelling out more money towards payment of salaries.
After the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission took effect, UGC issued guidelines stating that the honorarium for guest faculty must be enhanced to ₹1,500 per lecture subject to a maximum of ₹50,000 per month, and that the qualification for guest faculty must be the same as those prescribed for regular Assistant Professors of universities/colleges in UGC regulations.
Very rarely do self-financing colleges or aided colleges offering self-financing programmes pay the UGC-recommended amount to a section of teachers who fulfil the qualification criteria. Teachers organisations say the UGC’s guidelines on faculty salary will be applicable for teachers fulfilling the qualification norms in the constituent colleges of universities as well.
According to BDU sources, colleges with a larger number of under-qualified faculty will face trouble while seeking accreditation of National Assessment and Accreditation Committee, which has been made compulsory by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
