The Delhi University Teacher’s Association boycotted the evaluation of scripts for undergraduate examinations as on 24th May against the UGC Gazette Notification of 4th May which will lead to loss of jobs for around 5000 ad-hoc, temporary and guest teachers. Most of them have been teaching in the university for many years. All twelve evaluation centers were closed on the first day of boycott. Evaluation halls at Daulat Ram College and Miranda House were locked; the ones at Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Dyal Singh and Gargi colleges were vacant, as reported by a popular national daily.
According to a DUTA statement, the Amendment was issued under the guise of addressing the teacher’s grievances against the infamous API system which had led to large scale denial of promotions and devalued research and teaching. It also contained a secret clause that had a direct impact on the teachers’ working hours. For Assistant professors, the workload increased from 16 hours of direct teaching to 18 hours, plus 6 hours of tutorials. Similarly for Associate professors, working hours have been increased from 14 to 22 hours.
“DUTA demands that the government withdraws the Gazette notification immediately and initiates a dialogue with Teacher’s Associations on the issue”, said the statement.
Teachers across the University expressed their anger over a four day boycott during which period, Staff Associations will hold meetings and pass resolutions on the issue. A General Body Meeting of DUTA will be held on 28th May to analyse the situation and decide further course of action. If the government does not withdraw the notification, teachers might even boycott the admission process.
Image credits : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Arindam Goswami
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