Job loss fear for DU teachers

New Delhi: Nearly 4,500 ad hoc teachers working in colleges under Delhi University fear they could lose their jobs under new appointment rules that expect aspirants to have published research papers in journals before applying for an assistant professor's post. Higher education regulator UGC's policy on appointment of teachers is silent on the requirement of published papers for entry-level posts . The university's academic council and executive council have approved a set of new rules that say a candidate with research output will get 25 points in a 100-point weightage system. The rules will be followed during the regular appointment process that might start soon. The ad hoc teachers - hired since 2007-08 when the university appointed more faculty members to create 54 per cent additional seats to accommodate the 27 per cent reservation for OBC students without affecting the general category - had been hoping their services would be regularised. But the new rules may deny them the chance, they say. The earlier policy had a provision under which research publications got five points. But those without research publications still had a chance of being selected because the maximum weightage for teaching experience was 30 points - one point for every four months. The new norms have a 20-point weightage for teaching experience and teaching skills and 10 points for teaching domain, which has not been defined. Academic records carry 25 points, while 20 points have been kept for the interview. "The new policy will deny a regular job to 80 per cent of the ad hoc teachers," said Luvkush Kumar, an ad hoc faculty member who teaches Hindi at Ram Lal Anand College. Kumar said the mechanism to judge teaching skills was not clear and it would be up to the interviewer to decide. Some teachers said the varsity's new norms violated the UGC's 2016 regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Academic Staff. The regulations suggest that several academic performance indicators (APIs) - like research publications, teaching and guidance of research scholars - be used for screening candidates while appointing principals or senior faculty. There is no provision that suggests that the API indicators, including research publication, be used to screen candidates applying for an assistant professorship. "The ad hoc teachers hardly have time for research as they have to do three hours of teaching and three hours of administrative work every day. For three hours of teaching, they need to prepare for three hours. But the rules expect that they should have prior publication," said an ad hoc teacher of Shyam Lal College. Professor Aswini Mohapatra, who teaches at the School of International Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the Delhi University rules should be "rolled back". "Parameters like research performance are not applicable for appointments to entry-level posts. These cannot be used for screening candidates for assistant professors. These are meant for higher-level posts," Mohapatra said. Another worry for the teachers was the list of journals the University Grants Commission has prescribed where junior teachers are expected to publish papers. The list of 38,653 journals, approved by the regulator recently, includes mostly internationally acclaimed journals but hardly has any journal published in an Indian vernacular language. "Even if some ad hoc teachers have done research and got papers published, the interview board will recognise only those published in internationally acclaimed journals listed as referred journals by the UGC," said Professor Aditya Narayan Mishra, who teaches in a college. Delhi University vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi did not respond to calls on his mobile. A DU official said the university had received complaints about the new rule. The VC, the official added, may examine the complaints and, if necessary, they may be referred to the executive council for a final view. Kerala Central University has also adopted similar rules for hiring entry-level teachers.