Recently Delhi University released the circular in which they proposed an increase in the workload of senior faculty members of DU. Their aim was to raise the teaching hours and some other responsibilities of the experienced faculty staff. But after DU had faced backlash from the teaching staff on social media, it had withdrawn the directive it issued.
The circular told that because senior professors were having a lot of teaching experience as they have been teaching for several years that’s why they should take more responsibility towards DU’s administration tasks and also they should increase their teaching hours.
Overall, 14 hours a week for senior faculty members (professors and associate professors) and 16 hours a week for junior professors (assistant professors) were already given as the mentoring hours under University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation. But despite this regulation by UGC, Delhi University raised the senior faculty’s workload to 2 hours to match the junior staff’s workload, mentioning the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) promotion as a reason.
This thing leads to the controversy as Delhi University faced a lot of opposition from the faculty members. Many teachers accused the Delhi University of increasing the burden of senior faculty members as an excuse of not recruiting more teaching staffs in the University to accommodate the demands of the new Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) under the National Education Policy 2020.
Abha Dev Habib, a professor from Miranda House stated that the circular came in morning and then by the evening it gets withdrawn. This shows careless attitude by Dehi University towards its teaching staff and the learning process.
Another faculty and secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) shared their grievances by mentioning that instead of asking government for additional teachers, Delhi University is burdening the senior faulty members, it shows their assault toward the mentoring staff and DUTA remained silent in this matter.
Due to overwhelming protest by teachers from various posts and colleges, University of Delhi decided to withdraw the circular on the very same day it released the circular in which it stated that “Further, it is informed that subsequent clarification, if any, in this regard will be issued by the university in due course”. As a result of which the workload of the senior faculty members will remain the same as before.
This issue shows that Delhi University’s decision to withdraw the circular that came after listening to the faculty members concerns ensures that any changes that will be happening in future will be made after collaborating and understanding in a better manner.
