From ’21, PHD must for varsity teachers

NEW DELHI: From 2021, a PHD will be a must for teaching at university level , even for assistant professors, which is the entry level designation for instructors in universities, according to a draft policy document seen by Hindustan Times.

Teachers will undergo a mandatory, month-long induction programme before starting work and also have to devote two hours for mentoring of students for community development/extracurricular activities.

A senior Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry official who asked not to be identified, said these changes have been made to enhance the quality of education in the higher education sector. This person added that the University Grants Commission (UGC) will soon define the minimum qualifications for teachers.

So far, at the entry level, the minimum eligibility requirement for an assistant professor was that they should have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) and have a Masters degree.

The government is likely to notify the new qualifications for the maintenance of standards in higher education soon. In addition to PHD, aspirants will have to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET) or an accredited test (state level eligibility test) or other similar exams, HRD ministry officials added. However, those who obtained Phds before 2009 will not be required to clear NET.

UGC , which had put up the draft regulations online for suggestions, has incorporated all the changes and sent it to the HRD ministry for approval. Some of the other features of the regulations include doing away with the Academic Performance Indicator (API) based appraisal , the introduction of a simplified teacher evaluation grading system, and the addition of a academic/research score for universities to improve research output. In addition to this, promotion in colleges up to the level of associate professor will be based on teaching-centric metrics and in universities, teaching and research-centric. A PHD has also been made mandatory for promotion to the level of associate professor in colleges and assistant professor (Selection Grade) in universities.

To encourage the return of best brains who made a mark in foreign universities, a special provision has been made in the in eligibility conditions for recruitment of assistant professors in universities and colleges. All those who have a PHD degree from a university/institutions with a ranking among top 500 in the World University Ranking by Quacquarelli Symonds, the Times Higher Education (THE) will be eligible for direct recruitment .

TEACHERS WILL ALSO UNDERGO A MONTHLONG INDUCTION PROGRAMME AND DEVOTE 2 HOURS TO MENTOR STUDENTS