Govt makes PHD mandatory for varsity teachers
NEWDELHI: From 2021, a PHD will be must for teaching at the university level. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made a PHD degree mandatory for direct recruitment to assistant professors in universities from July 2021.
As first reported by Hindustan Times, teachers will also undergo a mandatory, monthlong induction programme before starting work and also have to devote two hours for mentoring of students for community development/extracurricular activities. The government has also done away with the “controversial” Academic Performance Indicator (Api)-based appraisal.
NEW DELHI: From 2021, a PHD will be must for teaching at the university level. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made a PHD degree mandatory for direct recruitment to assistant professors in universities from July 2021.
As first reported by Hindustan Times, teachers will also 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.
The government has also done away with the “controversial” Academic Performance Indicator (Api)-based appraisal, has introduced a simplified teacher evaluation grading system, and has added academic/research score for universities to improve research output.
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 from July 2021.
Human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar announced these steps on Wednesday. “These changes have been made to attract and retain the best quality teachers and other academic staff in Universities and Colleges,” he said.
Officials said a Masters degree, with NET or PHD will continue to be the minimum eligibility requirement for direct recruitment to the post of assistant professors in colleges.for direct recruitment in universities, PHD was not mandatory and one could get recruited if they had a Masters degree and cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) or had a PHD.
These changes are part of the soon to be notified “Minimum qualifications for Appointments of Teachers in universities and colleges and measures for maintenance of standards in higher education”. To encourage the return of best brains who made a mark in foreign universities, a special provision for recruitment of assistant professors in universities and colleges for PHD degree holders from a university/institution in the top 500 global ranking has also been made.
For the first time provision for promotion in colleges will be up to professor level.
Also, teachers who will contribute by providing content on the SWAYAM (massive open online courses) platform will be given weightages for career advancement scheme (CAS).
Special category of medal winners in Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in eligibility criteria for assistant director/college director, physical education and sports and deputy director, physical education and sports in universities has been made to promote sports in universities and colleges.