The recent policy change in calculation of points for teaching experience will affect hundreds of DU’s ad-hoc teachers.
In an environment where ad-hoc teachers face uncertainty and battle for fair-play on a daily basis, the University of Delhi (DU) has come up with a new policy which could make things even more difficult. In this unprecedented move which only tips the scales further, DU has altered the 2013 University ordinance which allotted twenty points for teaching experience. According to the new policy, one year of teaching experience will now equal a mere four points. But if the teacher has five years of teaching experience, he or she shall be rewarded twenty points.
The magnitude of blatant disregard for ad-hoc teachers’ toil, experience and time is clear in the policy which slashes the points rewarded in a brutal manner. It is expected to affect as many as 4,500 ad-hoc teachers vying for permanent positions. A report by The Indian Express marks out how significant these points are during the screening process for permanent recruitment.
Pankaj Garg, a Mathematics lecturer and member of the academic council, spoke to The Indian Express on this issue, stating: “We have submitted a new formula to Dean of College and coordinator core committee screening for calculating points of teaching experience.” Indeed, the teachers and members of the academic and executive council have been unanimously vocal in their condemnation of the new policy, while actively raising an objection to it. The massive reduction in points not only affects the current teachers, but will also have an adverse impact on the points for teaching experience calculated for the future generations of DU’s lecturers.
This change, brought about after the University centralised the screening process for recruitment of assistant professors, leaves not only the current ad-hoc teachers, but also the students who might have desired to become university lecturers one day in the future, in an utter flux. Such unforeseen and adverse policy changes on the part of a major, reputable central university like DU, do not reflect well upon the state of higher education in government institutions. They are only the mirror reflections of a sad, deeply infested public education system, now rotting away at its core. While a University official refused to comment beyond stating to The Indian Express that they would look into the issue, only time will tell which side finally wins, and whether or not the ad-hoc teachers get their due.
Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express
Deepannita Misra
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