Plea to increase retirement age of university teachers to 65

Faculty members of State universities have been reasoning that an increase in retirement age would motivate them to perform better

The Teachers Association of Bharathidasan University (TABU) has urged the State Government to consider extending the retirement age of university faculty members from 60 to 65 years as per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission.

Faculty members of State universities have been reasoning that an increase in retirement age, as in the case of their counterparts in Central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology, would motivate them to perform better.

Welcoming the announcement made by the Chief Minister on extending the retirement age of State government employees including college teachers/employees and university employees from 58 to 59 years, M. Selvam, president of TABU said in a letter to the government that the demand for increasing the retirement age for university faculty members has been pending for a long time.

Earlier this month, representatives of the Bharathiyar University Teachers Association wrote to the Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department that increasing the retirement age of university teachers will be a milestone in the history of the Tamil Nadu government. The Tamil Nadu Open University Teachers’ Assocation, has also taken the same stand.

Espousing the cause, the Tamil Nadu Federation of University Faculty Associations (TANFUFA) too, sought to remind the State government that the age of superannuation in central universities was 65 years.

Some of the States have already increased the retirement age of college teachers. Last year, the West Bengal government raised the retirement age for college and university teachers to 65 years.