Non-teaching staff being made invigilators

SCARCITY OF teachers and, in some cases, their unwillingness to conduct invigilation duties during the University examination has led the management of the colleges to appoint invigilators from among the non-teaching staff of the college. At some colleges, the management is forced to appoint invigilators from outside too.

SCARCITY OF teachers and, in some cases, their unwillingness to conduct invigilation duties during the University examination has led the management of the colleges to appoint invigilators from among the non-teaching staff of the college. At some colleges, the management is forced to appoint invigilators from outside too.
At many colleges, the number of teachers is thin and the part-time teachers at low consolidated salaries are appointed to carry out the teaching work.
At other colleges, most of the teachers seldom opt for examination duties but remain ready for evaluation job which is more lucrative. As per university rules, an invigilator gets Rs 50 per shift of three hours while an evaluator of BA classes answer books is supposed to evaluate at least 700 answer books within a period of six days for which he used to be paid Rs 10 per copy. As such, an invigilator will get only Rs 420 in a week while from evaluation work for a week, he will get Rs 7,000.
One of the college managements has tightened the noose around the teachers who refused invigilaton duty and conducted evaluation. The management has asked the teachers, who have avoided invigilation duty, to remain in the college for four hours and seek prior permission of the management for evaluation work offered by the university.
The teachers allege that whenever they refused to obey the ‘unreasonable’ directives of the management, they were harassed by the management on some or the other ground. However, none of the teachers’ associations has decided to challenge the directives of the management so far.

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The strict attitude of the college management has evoked mixed reactions in the teaching community. While majority of teachers have opposed the college action and has described it as ‘an encroachment of their rights’. According to them, no where in the university rules the invigilation duty or the evaluation duty had been described as mandatory. Both the duties depended upon the will of the teachers. As such the college management has no legal right to force the teachers to follow what it preferred justified.
The teachers allege that whenever the teachers refused to obey the ‘unreasonable’ directives of the management, they were harassed by the management on some or the other ground. However, none of the teachers’ association has decided to challenge the directives of the management so far.