GURUS OF SOCIETY
Many of
the aided Arts and Science
Colleges
Many persons are not qualified for appointment
as Guest Lecturer as per the UGC norms, as they do not possess Ph.D. All most
all the Lecturers employed in Shift II, which is conducted on self-financing
basis, are Guest Lecturers and no one is a regular Lecturer. Those Guest
Lecturers are paid a paltry sum at the rate of Rs.100/- per hour or a meager
consolidated salary.
The
Colleges have not obtained qualification approval for Guest Lecturers appointed
by them, while all the courses are handled by Guest Lecturers only. Since the
colleges are not obtaining qualification approval for Part time / Guest
Lecturers appointed by them, the details regard to the number of part time
lecturers appointed by the affiliated colleges are not available even with many
of the Universities.
The
approval / Provisional Affiliation for starting the courses in the evening
college under un-aided pattern are granted subject to the fulfilment of
conditions of affiliation. Some of the usual Conditions of affiliation are as
follows::
1. The Return of Staff in the prescribed form shall be
forwarded separately for the evening college courses on the prescribed date.
2. The work of the teachers in the evening colleges shall
not exceed that prescribed for regular colleges. The remuneration shall also be the same.
3. An agreement shall be entered into with each teacher to
be appointed as per the requirements of the University / Tamilnadu Private
Colleges [Regulation] Act and Rules thereunder."
Further, the
Tamil Nadu Private Colleges (Regulation) Act and the Rules framed there under,
govern the conditions of services of the Lecturers employed both in the regular
college and the evening college. As per the said Act, an agreement in the
prescribed form has to be entered into, between the Lecturers and the colleges
(even in the case of temporary Lecturers) on their appointment. It is
unfortunate that neither permanent nor temporary Lecturers are appointed and on
the other hand, part time / Guest Lecturers are appointed for Shift II/Evening
College. No such agreements are entered.
In most of
the colleges, all the Lecturers are Guest Lecturers and no one is a permanent
Lecturer in Shift II/Evening college. The High court has categorically
deprecated the appointment of Guest Lecturers for years together. Such Guest
lecturers are treated almost like casual or daily wage employees, and are given
remuneration on an hourly basis and that too without even giving them any
formal appointment order. Naturall such lecturers will not take interest in
their work and they will not have commitment to the said job. Further, there is
no security of tenure for such teachers and they are paid a paltry sum upto a
maximum of Rs.5,000 per month less than that of even last grade servants.
Many of
such colleges used to appoint teachers on temporary basis at the commencement
of an academic year and terminate their services before the commencement of the
next summer vacation, or earlier, to appoint them again on the same basis at
the commencement of next academic year and to terminate their services before
the commencement of the succeeding summer vacation or earlier and used to
continue to do so year after year.
If the
teachers had been appointed regularly, they would have been entitled to the
benefits of summer vacation with the salary and allowances payable in respect
of that period and to all other privileges such as casual leave, medical leave and
maternity leave etc. available to all other regular teachers. These benefits
are denied to these ad hoc teachers unreasonably on account of this pernicious
system of appointment adopted by the colleges.
These ad
hoc teachers are unnecessarily subjected to an arbitrary hiring and firing
policy. These teachers who constitute the bulk of the educated unemployed are
compelled to accept these jobs on an ad hoc basis with miserable conditions of
service. The colleges are exploiting this situation.
The selection body must ensure that the most meritorious
persons are selected as teachers Most of the self financing institutions are
run on the same style and pattern. Now thousands of students are studying in
self financing colleges, and Guest Lecturers are appointed and the colleges do
not seek qualification approval for those Lecturers as they are not regular
Lecturers. So, University has to
strictly verify whether all the approved courses, either aided or unaided, are
handled by regular Lecturers, whose qualifications were approved and has to
withdraw approval to the courses which are handled by Lecturers for whom
qualification their statutory function in order to maintain standards of higher
education..
The
teachers who are given such appointments are not likely to take much interest
in their work. They will not be able to work with a free mind and will feel all
the time that there is a Damocles Sword hanging over their heads.
Surely the
students deserve good teachers. Good education is of paramount importance for
the progress of society in the modern age. The teachers are the gurus of
society, and they must be given proper respect, proper status, and a secure
job, so that they can function with a free mind and take interest in their
work. This practise of making appointments of guest lecturers is not conducive
to this end, and must now be revoked. In order to have effective and efficient
educational set up it is necessary to do away with
Ad-hocism in teaching appointments.
Nellai Advocate V.Kannan 9443154058
