The Association of University Teachers has urged the University Grants Commission to extend the deadline of exemption for orientation courses (OC) and refresher courses (RC) for entry-level teachers until Dec. 2022.
In a letter to the UGC, the AUT general secretary M.S. Bala Murugan said owing to the State government’s delay in paying the career advancement benefits to teachers and the delay in adopting the UGC’s regulations, the teachers had not received the UGC’s revised pay scales. Also the State government had not included the amendments in the OC/RC requirements for teachers.
The UGC had in 2018 made a revision to the requirements, but the Higher Education Department had not factored in the new rules with the result that the College Education director’s proceedings of Dec. 1, 2022, mandated that entry level teachers should undergo four refresher courses and one orientation course to be eligible for Career Advancement Scheme benefits.
AUT has appealed to the UGC to issue an order that CAS be awarded to teachers with the mandate that they complete the OC/RC within reasonable time. Also, to be awarded CAS at the level of assistant to associate professor, a person should have completed an RC in the last three years to be eligible for the benefit, Mr. Bala Murugan added.
The State government had not yet awarded the UGC 2016 pay revision and nor had the teachers’ received the 7th pay scale benefits, he said.
In a letter to the Higher Education Department, the AUT said administrative delay in adopting the revised UGC norms for OC/RC courses and the restrictions by managements on teachers in private colleges prevented the teachers from completing the courses. Also, the State had only a handful of centres for OC/RC programmes, thus resulting in the delay in the teachers receiving their CAS.
