Chandigarh, Monday, July 13, 1998
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Chandigarh, Monday, July 13, 1998 |
| Teachers’
pay and accountability THE pay scales for teachers of central universities have been revised. Sooner or later, state universities will follow suit. The cost of revision will be around 280 crore for central universities and for the colleges of Delhi which enjoy university status in all pay revisions, and Rs 1900 crore for state universities... Designing their future AMRITSAR: After granting affiliation to Handsworth College Corporation, Birmingham (England), where Punjabi language and culture will be taught, Guru Nanak Dev University has decided to accord affiliation to the Delhi-based Institute of Design with a four-year course at the graduate level and a two-year special course at the master’s level beginning July... |
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science losing appeal HISAR: Home science education in India is poised for re-orientation. To make it more attractive and job-oriented, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research has initiated certain steps in this direction... CAMPUS SCENE: Panjab University YOUTH & CAREER |
Teachers’ pay and accountability By Damodar Agrawal THE pay scales for teachers of central universities have been revised. Sooner or later, state universities will follow suit. The cost of revision will be around 280 crore for central universities and for the colleges of Delhi which enjoy university status in all pay revisions, and Rs 1900 crore for state universities. As there are more than three lakh teachers in 14 central universities, 37 deemed universities and 200 state universities plus 9,300 colleges in the country, the annual cost of higher education will be almost doubled. Then the promised GDP of 6% by 2000 AD will fall short of the actual cost of higher education. Even then, one is not sure if this will benefit the students, numbering 64 lakh. With 30% HRA and 16% DA a lecturer in a place like Delhi who was earlier getting Rs 7,030 per month will now get Rs 12,850/-. Likewise, a senior lecturer will get Rs 15,700/- a reader Rs 18,620/-, a senior reader Rs 23,146/-, and professors and senior professors much more. In the state universities where the HRA is calculated on the basis of the status of the city, it will be less proportionately. Obviously, this is no mean deal for teachers who are agitating for the UGC scales which place them on par with the IAS. Irrespective of the amount of work they have to do, they are asking for perks and facilities given to IAS officers. These include housing and conveyance, phone and free medical and hospitalisation facilities. As important members of our society, they fully deserve this. But can they assure that they will increase their workload, improve their quality of teaching and evaluation, resist politicisation of the academia and ensure that there will be no campus unrest of any kind? The workload of a college teacher in Delhi University is 18 periods a week on paper but, 12 periods in practice. They have an ‘off-day’ mid-week which they call ‘academic preparation day’ and which they spend in  commercial activities. They visit their college
or the university campus only on 120 of the 365 days of
the year. They have weeks of ‘French leave’.
Some go abroad without informing the authorities. After
60, they get re-employment for 5 years with full pay
scales. According to a calculation, if a teacher takes
200 classes in a year and is paid Rs 2,00,00 annually,
the wages of his single 45, minute class will come to a
staggering Rs 1,000/-. Is it worth it.Yet the teachers have failed miserably not only to check the deteriorating education standards but also to check large-scale financial bungling in colleges. Bihar has more than a dozen colleges in the name of a single politician. Ironically this state is the quickest in promoting their teachers, offering them the best available pay scales for political reasons. As a result, Bihar has a derailed university administration. The goonda element among students and teachers put the Vice-Chancellors out of their jobs. Under the provision of Section 12 of the Bihar Universities Act, the Chancellor appoints the Pro-Vice-Chancellors in consultation with the state government for a period not exceeding three years but many have continued for nine years. The Ranchi bench of the Patna High court had recently quashed the appointment of a ‘Vice-Chancellor as he had already “served” the university for nine years. Teachers of universities are not government servants. They work in institutions managed by non-government people who make little financial contribution to their own institution. They depend for their institution’s expenses mainly on grants-in-aid by the state or the UGC or on charity by trusts or individuals. A teacher’s bargaining capacity in such a state of things is, therefore, lower than that of a government clerk who is paid directly from the government’s cash box. In such a condition, it would be an irony of sorts to compare a teacher with an IAS officer who works much more. In spite of this, if the HRDM has recommended six scales of pay (8000-13500, 10000-15200, 12000-18000, 14300-18300, 16400-20000 and 18400-22400) for teachers, it has given them more than the financial constraints permit. This leads to the crucial question of collecting money to meet the ever-rising cost of college education. To begin with, what the government must do immediately is to do away with the trite and age-old fee structure and introduce a cost-effective and result-oriented system. The kind of education that one today gets for Rs 20 a month will add only to the ever-thickening mass of frustrated and unemployed youth. In the West, there is a strong tradition of industry chipping in funds for higher education. Except microscopically in the IIM and the IIT institutions and infinitesimal research projects in university departments, the industry-university interaction in our country, despite tax exemption motivations, has not been worth mentioning. The government rules and regulations in this regard being what they are, there seems no hope for future. Hence, the alumni associations, family trusts and the NRIs, too, are not very excited about this. The biggest eyesore is the huge amount of money spent on mass production of useless graduates. If the colleges have turned out to be mere salary distributing institutions, the funding pattern which leads to this waste must change. Sometimes back the universities were asked to mobilise and generate internal resources, but when some universities tried to do this they faced a proportionate cut in their grants-in-aid. This is in any case not to suggest that the teachers must be left at the mercy of the market forces or that of philanthropists, but whenever their pay scales are revised at our expense, they must be held accountable for every rupee that we pay them. |
| Designing their future From Varinder Walia AMRITSAR: After granting affiliation to Handsworth College Corporation, Birmingham (England), where Punjabi language and culture will be taught, Guru Nanak Dev University has decided to accord affiliation to the Delhi-based Institute of Design with a four-year course at the graduate level and a two-year special course at the master’s level beginning July. According to Vice-Chancellor H.S Soch, the institute will also run design courses at the international level shortly. The Vice-Chancellor said the courses would be designed in a way that the students would gain a comprehensive knowledge about the tradition and culture of Punjab. The Vice-Chancellor claimed that Guru Nanak Dev University was the first to give affiliation to any design college. Many institutions were offering courses in fashion designing of three years’ duration but were not affiliated with any university. He further said it was for the first time that a two-year master’s degree in design management was being introduced by the university. Dr Soch said a paper, “Cultural history of Punjab,” had been made a part of the curriculum of the course so that the students were well-versed in Punjabi language and culture. Apart from this, the course would include coaching in textile design, interior design, graphics design and ceramic design. The training in these courses would enable the students to play a significant role in the field of fashion designing at the international level, Dr Soch added. |
| Home science losing appeal From Vimal Sumbly HISAR: Home science education in India is poised for re-orientation. To make it more attractive and job-oriented, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research has initiated certain steps in this direction. Students no longer show much interest in the study of home science. There are several factors responsible for the same. Outdated syllabus and lack of professional touch are said to be the main reasons. At Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, the College of Home Sciences awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the subject. Research work is also conducted. But of late the college, despite the modern infrastructure, has not been able to attract many students. Last year only 22 students opted for the subject. The available seats were 80. According to Dr Achala Malviya, Dean, College of Home Sciences, there are two factors responsible for the poor response of the students. First, HAU has made B.Sc. in home science a professional degree. Hence, it is a four-year course, while in other institutions it is still a three-year course. She said, internationally it has been accepted that any professional degree has to be of four years’
duration. It had been decided at a meeting of Deans of
different institutions convened by the ICAR, that a
degree in home science, like any other professional
degree, must be of four years’ duration, she said.Besides, the mushroom growth of unrecognised institutions which offered a year’s diploma, had also led the students to drift away from the course offered at HAU. The college offers professional degrees in dietetics, fashion designing and textile designing, house keeping, bakery and confectionery, pre-school management, mass communications and distance education. During the fourth year, they are sent for internship to various industrial units. The college has now slashed the number of seats from 80 to 50. Each student is provided with a monthly scholarship of Rs 1000 by the ICAR during the fourth year. According to Dr Veena Sangwan, the secretary, Board of Studies, the college conducted a survey which indicated that in rural areas, the girls are not encouraged to opt for science subjects, which is compulsory for pursuing home science studies. Dr Malviya pointed out that in the late sixties, home science education was faced with similar problems. This ultimately led to its re-orientation, including change in nomenclature. She said, similar is the situation in India now. But, she pointed out, the rapid growth in the food industry, had thrown open several avenues for the professionals. The ICAR has convened a meeting of Deans of different universities in September to chalk out a strategy for reorienting home science education. |
| CAMPUS SCENE University library goes hi-tech By Peeyush Agnihotri The selection of faculty members in two departments of Panjab University drew a flak, despite the claims of the authorities that they had abided by the guidelines prescribed by the university. The university had invited applications for the post of Lecturer in the Department of Zoology recently. Since the number of aspirants were more than anticipated, during shortlisting the candidature of some of the aspirants were rejected on the plea that they had a second division at some stage of their academic career. So far, so good. But rejected aspirants got a shock when they found out that the person selected for the coveted post had a second division at her graduation level. What was more intriguing was that instead of a waiting list, a panel was set up and another post, which subsequently fell vacant after the promotion of a lecturer, was filled from the panel instead of the same being advertised. Similarly, in the Department of Sociology, it was alleged, that during the selection of lecturers, doctorate candidates were sidelined while those with postgraduate degrees were selected. Official sources in the Zoology Department, when contacted, said: “While selecting a candidate, post-examination system of the candidate is also evaluated. If a candidate has good research publications, he or she is preferred no matter even if he or she has one or two second divisions”. Regarding the panel, the sources said the varsity had the right to set up a panel if it anticipated that a post might fall vacant and another selection at the same level would have to be made within six months of the previous interview. Paradoxically, the official concerned in the Department of Sociology pointed out that candidatures of some of the Ph.D. candidates were rejected
because they had a second division at some stage of their
academic career. “The university guidelines state
that a postgraduate can be preferred over a doctorate
candidate if he has more bright academic career, has
knowledge of the subject or has some publications,”
the official stated.The aspirants, however, alleged a partisan attitude. The questions that loom large in their minds are: Why different yardsticks are applied during selections to the faculty of arts and the faculty of sciences? How can research publications be quantified? Further, if the university anticipates that a post may fall vacant, why is the same not advertised along side and why is a panel made thereby, denying a fair opportunity to all? * * * * The university library is
going hi-tech and innovative too. Since last year, 75,000
old records have been computerised and retroconversion of
database is under way. The library plans to add 1.5 lakh
records more by the end of this year and has an ambitious
plan of computerising all old and new records by 2000
A.D. * * * * The construction of the language block is going on full steam. “We plan to complete the construction by July 15”, said the Xen in charge. When asked about the departments which might be shifted there the DUI remarked that it would be decided once the completion report come him. * * * * The varsity’s Academic Staff College conducted 11 refresher courses and five orientation courses till June 15, 1998. Sources in the college pointed out that since environmental studies and gender studies were two subjects which were in great demand, they had requested the UGC to grant them permission for starting courses in these two subjects. “We are hopeful that the UGC will concede our request”, the sources added. * * * * Dr Ashu Khosla of the
Department of Geology has been awarded a project on
vertebrate biostratigraphy for two years by the
Department of Science and Technology (DST) keeping in
view the work done by him on dinosaur eggs in the
Narmada. Earlier, he had been invited by the French
Government for a postdoctoral fellowship at Mantpellier
on a project which ended in April ‘98. |
| YOUTH & CAREER * Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra: Certificate course in Physical Education. Contact university. Last date July 24. * University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi: M.Sc. Environmental biology. Test on July 25. Contact university. Last date July 22. * Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi-110016: General nursing and midwifery course. Contact School of Nursing. Last date July 31. * Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut: LL.B course. Test on August 4. Contact university. Last date July 15. * Directorate of Distance Education, M.D. University, Rohtak: BA/B.Com./MA/M.Com. (last date August 20) B.Ed/M.Ed (last date August 31). Contact Director. * School of Correspondence Courses, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007: BA/BA (Hons) English/B.Com./B.Com (Hons). Contact Principal. * Institute of Distance Education, University of Mumbai, Fort, Mumbai-400032: BA/B.Com (last date August 31) MA (last date September 18) M.Com (last date September 25) M.Sc (Maths)/DFM/DORM/M.Ed (last date September 29). Contact Director. * Institute of Correspondence Education, University of Madras, Chepauk, Chennai: Graduate (last date September 18) post-graduate (last date October 16) and calendar year courses (last date October 30). Contact Director. * Directorate of Distance Education, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry: Graduate/post-graduate/PG diploma courses. Contact Director. Last date August 31. |
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