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Government Plans to Scrap UGC and Set Up Higher Education Commission

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In an attempt to reform higher education, the central Government today announced a complete overhaul of the apex higher education regulator- University Grants Commission (UGC), repeal of the UGC Act, 1951 to adopt a fresh legislation to set up the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The new Higher Education Commission of India is meant to focus only on the academic part of the universities. Finances would be under the direct jurisdiction of the ministry, according to the draft. 

The HECI Act, 2018 is expected to be pitched in the Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session. The Ministry of Human Resource Development will be uploading the draft of the act on its website to be vetted by the public and for inviting feedback. 

Dr.Rajib Ray, the President of Delhi University Teachers’ Association was very  critical about the overhaul of the UGC and told DU Beat that, “It is very unclear that how this step will address the need of higher education in a better way.” He informed DU Beat that DUTA will be holding a meeting on 3rd July to deliberate further on the draft. He raised his concerns over the absence of representation of SC/ST/OBC/PwD/women in the twelve membered commission.

Dr. Nandita Narain of DUTA in a conversation with DU Beat correspondent alleged that the aim of overhauling UGC is an attempt to corporatise education sector.

In a conversation with DU Beat, Mr. Saket Bahuguna, the media convener of ABVP said that “This draft aims to bring reforms in the field of higher education. The ABVP will discuss the draft and propose the recommendations to the MHRD, once it is out for public feedback”

Educationists, stakeholders, and others can furnish their comments and suggestions by July 7, 2018, until 5 pm.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express.

Sandeep Samal

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Campus Central

DUTA Hosts Press Conference Against Reservation Roster, ABVP Requests For Evaluation with Roses

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The conference registered the presence of a string of politicians and speakers from CPI-M, AAP, RJD and Congress party, each unequivocally calling out the UGC roster for its “unconstitutional nature”.

The Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) today held a press conference at the Press Club of India, Raisina Road. The occasion saw DUTA gain the support of the major political parties in its on-going movement against the 5th March University Grants Commission  (UGC) roster which potentially curtails the reservation in the appointment of teachers.

Rajib Ray, President of DUTA, began the conference by highlighting the implications of the 5th March 2018 UGC notification regarding Reservation Roster for SC, ST, OBC category in teaching posts in universities and colleges across the nation, which directs institutions to make the roster treating a Department as a unit in place of the UGC guidelines of 2006 which considered College/University as a unit. He further spoke over how the latest provision could only lead to delays in fulfillment of required seats, hence pushing a large number of teachers from the SC, ST, and OBC background out from university spaces and putting the future of ad-hoc teachers at jeopardy.

Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat
Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Among the political figures present were Sitaram Yechury, secretary general of the Communist Party of India, Manoj Jha, Member of Parliament, RJD, Amarjeet Kaur, Udit Raj, and Dev Rajan. The politicians of all the parties overtly blamed the government for systematically scaling down the constitutional values in the academic administration and called for the roster development to be seen in the backdrop of a larger national narrative. They also asked the government to restore the status quo till the Supreme Court comes with a decision over the Special Leave Petition ( SLP).

In addition to these major actors, sources later claimed that DUTA resistance has also found support from Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and, interestingly, Anusuchit Jaati Morcha of BJP.

However, questions regarding the evaluation boycott were strategically dodged, keeping the final year students and their higher education application prospects at loss. On being asked about the same, a Professor/Member of DUTA told our correspondent, “ The ball is in the government’s court. Rather than questioning the morality of the teachers, the government and the association should engage in a positive dialogue and resolve the deadlock, for everyone’s sake.”

Interestingly members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a peaceful sit-in and handed out roses to the teachers, requesting them to begin the evaluation.

 

Feature Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Nikhil Kumar
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Campus Central

DUTA Organises Jansampark Programme, Draws a Huge Crowd

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On 6th June 2018, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) organised the ‘Jansampark’ programme, informing citizens and making them aware of the problems that DU teachers face, with government paying no attention to their demands.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) on Wednesday organised the ‘Jansampark’ programme, with teachers and students participating in large numbers outside five metro stations namely Vishwavidyalaya, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House, ITO, and Central Secretariat.

“This Action Programme was organised to create awareness among the general public about massive problems that teachers of Delhi University were grappling with and finding no solutions to their miseries, teachers had to go on evaluation boycott,” said DUTA in a press release.

People were informed by the teachers and student activists about the sufferings that an average teacher has to undergo on a daily basis. More than 4000 teaching posts are lying vacant in the University of Delhi (DU). Despite the high court order directing the colleges to fill all teaching posts, the University has failed to do so.  The UGC letter dated 5th May 2018 directed the University to change the teaching roster to department-wise and if the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) does not withdraw the letter, the 4000 ad-hoc teachers teaching against these vacant positions are at a risk of being displaced in the beginning of next semester in July.

For the past ten years, teachers have been denied promotions. This has led to a sense of disillusionment amongst young teachers. The retired teachers of the Varsity and karamcharis are being denied pensions. The government is coming up with plans to privatise the higher education institutions through autonomous colleges and graded autonomy. General public was educated about how privatisation will make public education out of the reach of poor people, harming the interest of underprivileged, minorities, and female students.

On 28 March, 2018 Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and the Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) organised the “March for Education” from Mandi House to Parliament Street in the national capital against the granting of graded autonomy to 60 universities which would lead to commercialisation and blatant privatisation of public education.

On 9 May 2018 DUTA announced its decision to boycott evaluation of answer sheets in protest against delay in teachers’ appointment and promotion, lack of absorption of ad-hoc teachers, autonomous college scheme and the change in roster policy.

The Jansampark programme had a good reception from the people of Delhi who asked them to intensify their struggle until their demands are met.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives
Disha Saxena

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Campus Central

UGC Meeting on Autonomy Dropped Over DUTA Protest

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On 24 May, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) held a protest outside University Grants Commission (UGC) office against the meeting to decide autonomy for St. Stephen’s College and Hindu College. Owing to the protests, UGC dropped the meeting altogether.

DUTA issues press release

“Senior UGC Officials informed the DUTA President today morning that the item on granting autonomy to St. Stephen’s and Hindu College has been dropped from the agenda of the meeting”, DUTA issued in its press release. It added, that “this deferral is, however, no guarantee against the Government’s plan to privatise its premier public-funded higher educational institutions.” Yet, DUTA breathes a sigh of relief with this victory. 

DUTA re-affirmed its emphasis on the varsity’s founding act and the autonomy ascribed in it. It further asserted the unwanted result of “forcing [UGC’s] its new autonomy schemes”; commercialising education and making it exclusionary.

Demands raised by DUTA

Primarily, DUTA demands that autonomy is not forced on colleges or DU. On the other hand, many other issues have also been raised. The immediate withdrawal and reconsideration of the reservation roster, issued by the UGC on 5 March, is one amongst them. DUTA has demanded a reformulation of the said roster by standardising appointments by counting subject-wise departments (and not whole institutions) as units. 

“The DUTA demands withdrawal of retrograde recommendations of the 7th Pay Revision notification and the UGC draft regulations. We demand that the Revision of pension and other allowances be announced without further delay.” stated the press release.

Further actions expected

Rajib Ray, DUTA President, affirmed the faith in their fight and reiterated their decision to boycott semester-end evaluation until further notice. A Satyagraha: Mass Hunger Strike has also been organised on Wednesday, 30 May 2018 at Mandi House. DUTA will also write to teachers’ and students’ unions of other universities.

Feature Image Credits: Abha Dev Habib

Image Credits: DUTA

Raabiya

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UGC to Visit St. Stephen’s College Amidst Dissent Against Autonomy

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A team from the University Grants Commission is set to visit St. Stephen’s College on 10th and 11th May 2018, after the Governing Body (GB) of the college had in-principle agreed to apply for autonomy.

The most recent development in the fight against commercialisation of public education through privatisation, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to be visiting the campus of St. Stephen’s College for an inspection on 10th-11th May 2018. This visit is a consequence of the Governing Body of the college agreeing in-principle to apply for autonomy.

The issue of autonomy has been much talked about in the University of Delhi this year, with several protests being organised and students as well as teachers’ speaking out against this pressing issue.

Nandita Narain, a senior professor from the maths department of St. Stephen’s College, told DU Beat “44 out of 56 permanent teachers of the college have written to the UGC in opposition to this move in which we have outlined our objection against the way this decision was taken, in an emergency meeting of the GB last year, without any kind of consultation from the teachers, karamcharis, and students, who are the primary stakeholders.”

Adding to the objections raised by the teachers, she further said, “There is no clarity surrounding the implications of this move as no clear picture has been laid out regarding the financial structure of the college, the regulation of fees, and the service conditions of the teachers. The fate of the Ad-hoc teachers’ is also shaky.” She pointed out that there is nothing to gain from this move, as the college is not equipped to take on the massive administrative and academic burdens that will come with autonomy. Questioning the functioning of the administration, she also told the DU Beat correspondent that the present management functions in an arbitrary and non-transparent manner.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and All India Students’ Association (AISA) are conducting protests outside St. Stephen’s College tomorrow at 10 a.m., when the UGC visit is scheduled. AISA has also started a signature campaign to oppose this move. In a phone conversation with DU Beat, Kawalpreet Kaur, Head of AISA’s Delhi University Unit said, “We have been conducting a signature campaign since the examinations started, by putting up a desk at the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station in the evening. Tomorrow, we will also be protesting along with DUTA when the UGC visit is scheduled, to convey that we are against the arbitrary manner in which the decisions are being taken by the administration, when the students and teachers are totally in opposition to this move. Through the signature campaign, we have aimed to start a long-term agitation against this move towards autonomy, and we will also be actively protesting any fee hikes that will happen in the coming semesters in any colleges of DU.”

 

Feature Image Credits: St. Stephen’s College

Bhavya Banerjee

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Campus Central

DUTA Calls for Boycott of Evaluation of Examination Papers

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The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has called for a boycott of evaluation of examination papers scheduled to begin from Wednesday. This call was supported by teachers across the University of Delhi (DU) as teachers did not report at evaluation centres.
According to a press circular that was sent to DU Beat by the President of DUTA Rajib Ray, teachers have been forced to take this extreme step because of the immediate crisis resulting from the speed and aggression with which the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) are moving towards the grant of financial autonomy to several colleges of DU.

The announcement was made ahead of the visit of the University Grants Commission (UGC) officials’ to St. Stephen’s College after its Governing Body (GB) had, in principle, agreed to apply for autonomy. Notably, a UGC team is expected to visit the college on 10th-11th May 2018 for inspection.
The press circular of DUTA, dated 9th May 2018, informed that the teachers’ body shall hold a protest outside St. Stephen’s College on 10th May 2018, 10 a.m. onwards against the visit of the UGC team.

In a phone call conversation, the DU Beat correspondent had asked President Rajib Ray on why such a drastic step is being taken, Ray clarified, “We are planning on such a course of action not only for our struggle against autonomy. There are a lot of reasons.”

He explained that these insidious attempts are part of the larger agenda to privatise and commercialise public-funded education in the country. This will push education out of the reach of a vast majority of students who come from underprivileged sections. The dismembering of DU will also have negative consequences for the working conditions of teachers and “karamcharis”. Colleges of repute who enjoy this status from being a part of DU will become nothing more than teaching shops, according to DUTA.
Ray further explained that the apathy of the University administration towards issues of promotions including counting of past service, appointments, and pension issues is causing unrest among the teachers of the varsity. The teachers’ body now demands that promotion matters be expedited and routine matters dealt with expeditiously, so that the day-to-day academic life of teachers is not affected.

DUTA executive Surendra Kumar told DU Beat, “Crisis we are facing is very high, nature of response is very slow. Whatever decision the DUTA as a body takes, we stand with it.”
Further speaking along similar lines, he told the correspondent, “We need to expand our horizons and, bring the common man of the nation into this struggle against privatisation.”
“As far as my sources are concerned, three colleges, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Hindu College and St. Stephen’s College are on the pipeline of getting autonomy. If the best colleges of the country are going towards this fate, how can the common man afford higher education anymore?” questioned Kumar.

In the aftermath of the University Grants Commission inviting Principals of as many as 30 DU colleges for a workshop to clear their doubts about the move towards greater autonomy, a member of the DU’s Executive Council, Rajesh Jha had spoken on the dangers of privatisation of higher education. Jha had said, “The move ultimately will commercialise the education at a university which is being run on taxpayers’ money to provide equal opportunities to all students.”
Significantly, Principals from a remarkable number of colleges affiliated to DU, including Hindu College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Daulat Ram College, and Kamala Nehru College amongst others had taken part in the aforementioned workshop.

While the move towards autonomy is expected to give freedom to colleges to design and structure their courses in keeping with the changing methods of teaching, the move is being challenged by various quarters of the students’ and teachers’ community who are under the apprehension that this will eventually place the marginalised sections at a disadvantageous position.

Feature Image Credits: DNA India
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
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St. Stephen’s Teachers write to UGC against Autonomy

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42 teachers from St. Stephen’s wrote to UGC and the HRD Ministry to speak out against the idea of autonomy that has been actively rejected by students and teachers alike.
The issue of autonomy has been creating contention in the University of Delhi (DU) for a while now. Teachers and students are largely of the belief that autonomy will lead to a hike in fee and will go against the socialistic structure of the Varsity. Recently Hindu College wrote to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry demanding to know if seeking autonomy will affect the kind of aid it receives from the Center. Last year over 20 colleges from the University has been invited to attend an orientation programme. The bid to seek autonomy has been led by St. Stephens in the University, with it being one of the first institutions that were rumoured to be attempting to seek autonomy.
Earlier today, 42 permanent faculty members from St. Stephens College wrote to the HRD Ministry actively protesting against the issue of autonomy. On 25th February 2017, Principal John Varghese had claimed that the college will apply for autonomy only when the consultation of the staff council.
According to the UGC Guidelines for Autonomous Colleges-2017, a college gaining autonomy will have the liberty to decide and apply its own courses; modify and redesign the syllabi to suit specific needs, and make it more hands-on to meet the criterion of certain job requirements. This is specifically the reason why DUTA and a large number of students from the varsity have actively protested against autonomy because it comes with the fear of privatisation and seems capitalistic in spirit to many.
A second-year student from St Stephens who chose to stay anonymous said “Autonomy will lead to a lot of problems including fee hike, quality of education deteriorates, additional pressure on teachers because Ad-Hocs will be removed since funding from UGC will be cut. This was a great step taken by our teachers since it allowed reflected the values of the student. Most of us actively challenged the administration when they sought autonomy; however, they paid no heed to us. “

DU Beat has reached out to certain faculty members from St. Stephens College and will update the story once they respond.

Feature Image Credits – Hindustan Times
Kinjal Pandey

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UGC Invites Colleges for Orientation Programme on Autonomy

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Many colleges from the University of Delhi have expressed their desire to become autonomous. Recently, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has invited colleges to discuss this matter under the UGC Scheme for Autonomy.

The University Grants Commission has invited colleges from across the country for an orientation programme on Thursday to discuss the matter of autonomy. Highlighting the importance of autonomous colleges, the UGC document on the profile of higher education in India reiterates, “the only safe and better way to improve the quality of undergraduate education is to the delink most of the colleges from the affiliating structure. Colleges with academic and operative freedom are doing better and have more credibility.”

The affiliating system of colleges was originally curated when the number of colleges affiliated under a university was small. The university could then effectively oversee the working of the colleges, act as an examining body and award degrees on their behalf. The system has now become cumbersome and it is becoming increasingly difficult for a university to attend to the varied needs of individual colleges.
The colleges affiliated under a university do not have the freedom to modernize their curriculum as they have to comply with the university norms. A few prestigious institutions under the University of Delhi, namely, St. Stephen’s College, Hindu College, Ramjas College, Sri Ram College of Commerce and colleges run by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, have articulated the aspiration of achieving a deemed university status for the same reason.
The orientation programme is expected to give an idea about the interest level among the other colleges seeking an autonomous status. The UGC had initiated this scheme at the beginning of the year. In his letter to the colleges P K Thakur, secretary, UGC, wrote that the commission has been implementing the scheme of autonomous colleges in order to facilitate the colleges to achieve further qualitative improvement leading towards academic excellence.
If the colleges under Delhi University attain autonomy, they would have the freedom to formulate their own rules and regulations and design their fee structures which will no longer adhere to the guidelines set by Delhi University. Many students and faculty members have protested and are against these colleges attaining autonomy.

In 1981, St Stephen’s College was offered autonomy by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. However, DUTA?had opposed the move. In 2013, a similar offer was made to Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) which yielded a similar reaction. This year, students of St Stephen’s College protested against the discussion of autonomy by the governing body of their college.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Bhavya Banerjee
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UGC Decision May Curb SC, ST, OBC Faculty Posts Across All Universities

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Instead of calculating the number of reserved seats based on the total number of faculty members at a university, the UGC wants the calculation to be department-wise.

While hearing a case on teachers’ recruitment in Banaras Hindu University in April this year, the Allahabad High Court held that reservation in teaching posts has to be applied department-wise by treating the department as a “unit” and not the university.

In response to the above verdict, the University Grants Commission (UGC) last month decided to implement a new formula for reservation in teaching posts in the university. Now, if Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) decides to accept the decision, it could result in lesser positions for SC, ST and OBC faculty on university campuses, according to PS Krishnan, former secretary to the central government and an expert on the subject.

The Court condemned UGC for applying reservation in a “blanket manner” and advised the regulator to revisit its implementation. According to a report by the Indian Express, “If the University is taken as a ‘Unit’ for every level of teaching and applying the roster, it could result in some departments/subjects having all reserved candidates and some having only unreserved candidates. Such a proposition again would be discriminatory and unreasonable. This again would be violative of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution,” the Allahabad High Court had observed in its verdict that cancelled the BHU recruitment and asked it to start afresh.

As per official data, there are 17,106 teaching positions at 41 UGC-funded central universities, of which roughly 35 percent seats are vacant, as of April 1, 2017. Any change in the implementation of reservation will affect all new recruitment drives taken up by universities in future. The number of SC, ST, OBC faculty positions currently are calculated by treating the university as a “unit”. This practice grouped or clubbed together all the reserved quota for all posts of the same grade, say, professor, across different departments in a university. If the new UGC formula is accepted by the HRD ministry, the reservation would be applied by treating each department in a university as a “unit”. This means the number of reserved posts at the same level will be determined separately for each department; calculated based on the total posts in each department.

Krishnan, who has worked in the field of social justice for SCs, STs, and OBCs for more than six-and-a-half decades, told the Indian Express, “Take professors, for instance. There are fewer professors in a department compared to assistant professors. If a department has only one professor, there can be no reserved posts there as reservation cannot be applied in case of a single post. But if all posts of professors across different departments are clubbed together, then naturally there is a better chance of positions being set aside for SC, ST, and OBC,”

He further added,” If our goal is to strengthen India by giving opportunities to persons belonging to the submerged populations, who have become qualified, then we should interpret rules or make rules to enable them to come in due numbers. If our aim is to weaken India then we can interpret rules in a manner, which defeats the goal of reservation.”

The UGC’s Standing Committee examined 10 court judgments on the subject and recommended that the Allahabad High Court’s verdict should be applied to all universities. The UGC is learned to have shared this decision with the HRD Ministry and is waiting for its “concurrence”.

Feature Image Credits: Digital Learning

 

Oorja Tapan

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Cabinet Clears Pay Panel Recommendations For 8 Lakh Colleges And University Teachers

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Ahead of Diwali, there is some good news for the nearly 8,00,000 teachers and staff working in colleges, universities, and institutions run by the central and state governments.This decision will benefit 7.58 lakh teachers and equivalent academic staff in 106 universities and colleges funded by the UGC and central government, and 329 universities funded by state governments, besides 12,912 government and private-aided colleges affiliated to state universities.

“In addition, the revised pay package will cover teachers of 119 central-funded technical institutions such as IITs, IISc, IIMs, IISERs, IIITs, NITIE”- as stated by the Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

For the higher education institutions funded by state governments, the revised pay scales will have to be adopted by their respective state governments. The additional financial burden incurred by the state governments in implementing the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission for teachers will be borne by the central government. The approved pay scales will be applicable with effect from January 1, 2016. The annual Central financial liability on account of this measure would be about Rs 9,800 crore, the government said in a statement. The implementation of this revision will enhance teachers’ pay in the range of Rs.10,400 and Rs. 49,800. “This revision will register an entry pay growth in the range of 22 percent to 28 percent,” Javadekar said.

For state government-funded institutions, the revised pay scales will require adoption by respective states. The government had last year constituted a pay review committee, headed by UGC member VS Chauhan, which had submitted its recommendations earlier this year. Following this, the HRD ministry formed a committee to review the recommendations.

Feature Image Credits: India

 

Sandeep Samal

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