Delhi University on Tuesday withdrew a notice related to a senior faculty member following criticism. In this notification, the workload of senior faculty members is the same as that of junior faculty members. The notice was met with strong criticism from faculty and staff on social media.
Notably, the university administration issued the notification on Tuesday morning. About the notices for various departments of our school
Instructions have been issued to principals and directors. The directive talks about giving professors and associate professors the same workload as is usually given to lower-level positions like assistant professors.
As per UGC norms, senior faculty (Professors and Associate Professors) have to work 14 hours per week, while junior faculty (Assistant Professors) have a 16-hour weekly workload. , it is recommended that the workload of senior positions be increased by two hours.
The order issued by the Office of the Vice Provost said the incumbent will hold the primary charge of Assistant Professor irrespective of whether he is promoted to Associate Professor or Professor as CAS promotions are of an individual nature.
Faculty and staff took to social media to express opposition and criticism of the move. Some have accused the government of increasing workloads to compensate for four-year undergraduate programs (FYUP) rather than recruiting more teaching staff. DU professor and academic council member Mithuraj Dhusia told PTI why DU issued this notification when the UGC rules do not differentiate between associate professors through direct recruitment or promotion? This should be rejected outright and DU should withdraw the notification immediately.
The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) secretary and another teacher said the government was not asking the government to add more teachers but was imposing the burden of more teaching hours on existing teachers. This is yet another attack by Delhi University. DUTA also remains silent on policy issues! The UGC Regulations 2018 (and the regulations before 2010) do not make such a distinction. According to regulations, the number of direct teaching hours for senior teachers is 14 hours, and the number of direct teaching hours for junior teachers is 16 hours. The DU regulations also reiterate the UGC regulations of 2018.
After receiving criticism, DU issued a new notice that night, saying that the previous notice regarding teachers’ workload had been withdrawn. It also said it was further informed that the university would issue further clarification on this matter in due course, if any.
