Based on the latest announcement done by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the National Eligibility Test (NET) and State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) will be the minimum required criteria for direct recruitment for the posts of assistant professor in the universities and colleges and Ph.D. will no longer be a compulsory factor for recruitment. This announcement of revised regulations was done by University Grants Commission on June 30th which had to come into effect from July 1st, 2023.
The notice issued stated: NET/ SLET/ SET should be the minimum criteria for direct recruitment for the role of Assistant Professor that will work in all higher education level universities and colleges.
This amendment replaced the earlier sub-regulation of UGC, with the main goal to maintain and increase the standards of education at Higher education level institutes. It will make sure that the candidates applying for the role of assistant professor have cleared the necessary required eligibility tests for the role.
Before this, the Human resource development Minister Prakash Javadekar in 2018, announced that a Ph.D. is a compulsory factor for the assistant professor role in any university or college. They gave a three-year window for candidates to finish their Ph.D. and demanded the universities to appoint according to the newly set criteria from the academic year of 2021- 22. However, the dates were extended by the UGC in 2021 from July 2021 to July 2023.
The University Grant Commission Chairperson, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar took over Twitter to share the news through his handle stating that Ph.D. qualification for the appointment would be optional from July 1st, 2023 whereas NET/ SET/ SLET shall be the minimum required criteria for direct recruitment to the role of Assistant Professor for the Higher Education institutes.
University Grants Commission ended their statement by saying: The amendment regulations would be playing a crucial role in filtering the process of recruitment and only well-deserved candidates would be appointed in the role of assistant professors.
Here’s all you need to know about UGC.
UGC was formed on 28 December 1956 making it 66 years old. It was founded by Maulana Azad. It has its main headquarters in New Delhi. The current chairman is Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar and its parent organization is the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
- University Grants Commission – a statutory body that comes under the umbrella of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India that got set up according to the UGC Act of 1956.
- It plays an important role in coordinating, determining, and maintaining the standards of higher education in India.
- UGC has the power to provide recognition to the universities in India and play an important role in the disbursement of funds to these recognized universities and colleges.
- There is a running proposal in the Government of India to replace UGC with another new regulatory body known as HECI.
- UGC also provides doctoral scholarships to all those candidates who clear JRF in the National Eligibility Test.
