In this conversation with Prof. Pooja Thakur, a professor at the Department of History at St Stephen’s College, we explore how the NEP has transformed the everyday realities of teaching and learning in universities.
Correspondent: Could you please describe how the hiring system within the university has changed with the NEP, and how it impacts the future of academics and academicians?
Prof. Pooja Thakur: Firstly, I would like to clarify that the ad hoc system and guest system are not new provisions that came with the NEP. The ad hoc system was introduced way back in 2007 at the University of Delhi. In short, ad hoc appointments were to be made against vacancies for a period of more than one month but less than 120 days.
Prior to this ad hoc system, the university also made recruitments of Assistant Professors on a temporary basis. The difference being that temporary teachers’ appointments were made for a period of one year, and, if I am not wrong, the teachers in these positions also received medical and other forms of leave. The Ad hoc system, however, allowed for a basic pay scale with no social or medical security. That means teachers in ad hoc positions could not avail maternity leaves, study leaves, sabbatical or receive a pension, gratuity, etc., all this while they have been teaching for over a decade.
The Guest Faculty system was perhaps brought into the university around 2010. This was to be made for short-term vacancies created for less than a month. Initially, teachers were to be paid Rs. 1000 per lecture and a maximum limit of Rs. 25000 in a month. In 2019, guidelines were changed, and now guest faculty teachers are to be paid Rs. 1500 per lecture and a maximum limit of Rs. 50000 a month. And even if you make a maximum of Rs. 50000, after tax deduction, in-hand income would be only Rs. 45,000 a month. But in months in which there are fewer classes, like mid-semester break, examinations, and summer break, then you either earn way less than Rs. 50000 in a month or you earn nothing at all, since there are no classes held. Of course, it goes without saying that a teacher working under a guest position also does not get any social or medical benefits, gratuity, pension, etc.
The permanent appointments had not been made since 2009. In 2014-2015, if I remember correctly, there were some appointments made in some courses in some colleges across the university, but a full-fledged permanent appointment drive really started in 2022. But, even then, it has left many teachers, who have taught for years in the university system under such circumstances, out of jobs.
Certainly, with the introduction of NEP, recruitment on an ad hoc basis has stopped, and now appointments are made only on a guest basis, but this is not necessarily due to the introduction of the policy itself. However, with an ad hoc, at least there was surety of a standard monthly income and a regular job, but with a guest faculty position—that too is gone! So yes, certainly it makes for a more vulnerable teaching community.
C: What are your views on teachers being arbitrarily allotted papers to teach which they have no prior knowledge of?
PT: As per my knowledge, earlier, there used to be a committee of teachers in various departments across the university. These committees looked into syllabi revisions, and teachers across colleges would participate in the making of the curriculum, after which the syllabus was passed by the University of Delhi. Now, that does not seem to be the case, at least for several new components in the course structure under NEP.
For example, the SEC and VAC papers, which are a central pool of papers, are not necessarily made by deliberation amongst teachers of a particular department. I am not sure what exactly the process is here, but it doesn’t appear to be the same as it was earlier. So, you have many papers which are not strictly aligned with your courses and are meant to enhance skills in different areas. And to my understanding, any department can teach any paper from this central pool of papers. However, amongst many problems with its implementation, one can also see that many of these papers are difficult to execute, as their practical components require infrastructure that most colleges are not equipped with. However, SEC was a component under the previous CBCS (LOCF) syllabus as well. Under this scheme, each student pursued their SEC in the third and fourth semesters (i.e., in their second year of college). These papers were aligned to core courses and introduced allied fields, helping students make informed choices at the end of graduation.
Now, the current courses require students and teachers to engage for 3–4 hours (depending on the lecture and practical components), but not always with meaningful outcomes. To engage students for these hours, we must devise ways for them to interact meaningfully, which is not always achieved. The new courses, they naturally require more preparation time.
C: New papers are being given to teach every semester, with some having little to no relevance to the actual coursework—The Art of Being Happy, for instance. How does this additional load impact you as a teacher?
PT: In a way, it does take more time to prepare for lectures with many different papers to teach. The total hours of teaching for core, discipline elective, and generic elective papers have been reduced from five to three hours to make space for two-credit courses, like SEC and VAC have either one lecture and two practical hours or four practical hours.
The addition of new components in the NEP syllabus has increased the total number of papers taught to students. For instance, first-year students now study seven papers instead of four under the earlier syllabus. This leaves little time for other activities and also adds to teachers’ workload, as they now handle more, often new, papers. With reduced hours, teachers rush through topics just to complete the syllabus. The earlier rigour of undergraduate teaching helped build strong conceptual understanding through a balanced pace of learning, reading, and writing.
The internal assessment structure has also changed. Earlier, it was 25 marks for internal evaluation and 75 for the final exam. Under NEP, 30 marks are allotted for internal assessment and 40 for continuous assessment, based on tutorial activities. Although slightly different for 2-credit courses like SEC and VAC, the outcome is clear: more submissions for students and continuous evaluation for teachers. Consequently, alongside preparing for numerous papers, teachers are burdened with constant assessment, affecting the overall quality of teaching and learning.
C: How do you see the future of public universities in India?
PT: I do believe that change is constant and do hope for better schemes for education and higher education in particular. Public universities hold immense importance for many of us—most of us wouldn’t have received a good education without them. They play a vital role in fulfilling a basic human right to education, and we cannot abandon the idea of a public university. But yes, one has to constantly strive to provide meaningful education to students and fulfil the promise that it lays out for lakhs of students who join the university each year.
I remain hopeful that better change will come. How that will happen, I cannot say. But I do believe it will require all stakeholders—teachers and students alike—to speak up for the values that have sustained our universities so far.
Read Also: EXPLAINED: The NEP’s Multiple Exit System and Beyond: What it Means For You
Image Credits: Madhav for DU Beat
Madhav Choudhary
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