JNU to act against teachers for ‘not helping’ with admissions

The administration of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said it will “take action” against faculty members, including deans (of schools) and chairpersons (of centres), who allegedly “did not cooperate” during the admission process last year, and has set up a committee to identify such teachers.

Teachers, however, rejected the charge. They said the university outsourced the responsibility of conducting entrance exams to the National Testing Agency, and they were not informed about having to play any role in the testing process.

The decision to take action against teachers was taken during an academic council meeting on Thursday. According to people aware of the matter, the

NEW DELHI:

administration said the teachers did not not cooperate in the process of setting question papers for the entrance exams.

According to a document mentioning the agenda items of the meeting, the executive council (EC) — the varsity’s highest decision-making body — had in November last year authorised the University administration to form a committee to look into the matter.

“The Executive Council in its 290th meeting held on 25.11.2020 took this matter very seriously and found that the act of non-cooperation and refusal for setting-up of question papers for JNUEE are a complete violation of the orders of statutory bodies. It is also a violation of the Memorandum of Agreement signed by a teacher at the time of appointment,” the document read.

The JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), however, said teachers were not informed of an agreement signed between the university and the NTA that made participation in the question paper-making process mandatory. “There was no communication,” said Moushumi Basu, JNUTA secretary.

JNU registrar Pramod Kumar said the committee was formed after complaints by the director of examinations.

Teachers of JNU and the varsity administration have had several run-ins over the past few years on a range of vital issues, including matters such as online entrance tests, admissions, appointments to key posts, and hikes in hostel fees. Teachers had also attacked the university administration for not acting after a mob attacked the campus last January.