DU Revokes Circular Raising Workload for Senior Faculty Members
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Delhi University on Tuesday withdrew the contentious circular, which had suggested a change to balance out the workload of senior teachers to that of junior teachers, as teaching staff refused to stay mum. The circular, which came out in the morning, asked college principals and department heads to place professors and associate professors on the same work, order as assistant professors. That sparked immediate outrage on social media as educators spoke their mind over the sudden change of policy.
Under the current UGC guidelines, senior faculty members – professors and associate professors – had been mandated to teach 14 hours a week and assistant professors 16 hours a week. The circular, that has since been withdrawn, seeks to add two hours of teaching work for senior faculty members to bring their teaching workload closer to junior staff members with justification for this load sought under the rationale of promotions under CAS.
The circular said professors promoted through CAS should carry the same workload as assistant professors even after being promoted. “The incumbent(s) will assume the workload associated with the core post of Assistant Professor, regardless of any promotions as Associate Professor or Professor, since the promotion under CAS is specific to the individual,” read an order issued by DU’s deputy registrar.
Teachers from all sections of the social media went to sharp attacks on the decision. It was claimed that the higher workload was necessary because the newly introduced Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) needed a balancing by stretching the faculty members, rather than raising more personnel.
Mithuraaj Dhusiya, who is also a member of DU’s Academic Council, is one of the loud objectors to such issuance. “When the UGC regulations don’t make such differentiation between associate professors recruited directly or promoted through CAS, why is DU issuing such a notification? This needs to be rejected, and DU must immediately retract this circular,” Dhusiya said.
Other critics, such as those of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), faulted the university administration for piling teaching duties onto senior faculty rather than demanding the state recruit more teachers. “Instead of urging the government to increase teachers, the university would seek to burden the existing faculty with more teaching hours,” said a secretary of DTF. “The UGC Regulations of 2018 explicitly state 14 hours of teaching for senior professors and 16 hours for junior professors, which has no exemption.”
Later in the evening, surrounded by the rising outcry, Delhi University released a new circular withdrawing the previous order. The university stated that it was aware of the concerns and said, “Further, it is informed that subsequent clarification, if any, in this regard will be issued by the university in due course.”
The withdrawal of this circular has been claimed to be a success for the university’s teaching staff, though many remain vigilant to related developments.