Stir by teachers in DU set to delay undergrad results

NEW DELHI: Exam results of undergraduate courses in the Delhi University could be delayed this year as teachers have refused to evaluate the answer sheets in protest

NEW DELHI: Exam results of undergraduate courses in the Delhi University could be delayed this year as teachers have refused to evaluate the answer sheets in protest against a UGC notification whichincreasestheirworkloadand maylead to around 5,000temporary and guest teachers losing their jobs.

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The examinations ended last week and the centralised evaluation process was to begin at 13 centres on Tuesday. But none of the 3,000 teachers on evaluation duty turned up after a boycott call by the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA).

“The boycott is for four days. The future course of action will be decided at the general body meeting on Saturday,” said DUTA president Nandita Narain.

The association is opposing a notification by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which increased the workload of assistant professors from 16 hours of ‘direct teaching’ to 24 hours per week. For associate professors, it went up from 14 to 22 hours per week.

DUTA contends that since the Public sector banks could be allowed to recruit directly from business and engineering schools to reduce acute shortage of staff. Bank Board Bureau will come up with a new hiring strategy in consultation with the Centre course material would be covered by “overworked” professors, the move may lead to the retrenchment of temporary, guest and ad-hoc teachers.

According to the teachers’ body, the notification would also make promotions difficult. DU teachers are promoted on the basis of the infamous Academic Performance Indicator (API), which follows a point system for different parameters, including student feedback.

“The API has been made more stringent and emphasises on research. But now teachers have been assigned extra workload, leaving little time to prepare for quality lectures and research,” said Rajesh Jha, who teaches political science at Rajdhani College.