Guest faculty: Karnataka's Higher education dept seeks legal opinion

Bengaluru: In the wake of the Karnataka High Court’s order instructing the Department of Collegiate Education to ensure that guest lecturers appointed to state-run degree colleges meet the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) criteria in terms of qualification, the Department of Higher Education has sought the opinion of the Law Department on how to resolve the issue.

“To avoid any confusion or technical problems that may arise in the future, we have sought legal opinion. We are waiting for the Law Department’s response, and once we receive it, we will act accordingly,” a senior official in the Higher Education Department told DH.

In keeping with the High Court’s order, the Department of Collegiate Education relieved more than 11,000 guest lecturers who were teaching at colleges across the state. However, only 5,500 of the guest lecturers who were relieved did not have the qualifications prescribed by the UGC.

An official from the Department of Collegiate Education said, “Although the court issued its order in September 2024, we allowed the guest lecturers to continue teaching after filing a petition before the double bench, citing lack of eligible teachers for a few subjects. We relieved them when their 10-month term ended in August.”

On September 9, the High Court reiterated that the government could only appoint guest lecturers meeting the UGC’s criteria.

Office-bearer of the Karnataka Government Degree College Guest Faculties’ Association Shivappa C said, “In its recent judgement, the court allowed the government to consider candidates who do not have UGC-prescribed qualification if suitable lecturers are not available for some subjects. But more than two weeks since that judgement, the government has initiated no action to hire guest lecturers.”

Although many state-run colleges and varsities have scheduled semester examinations in October, classes have not been conducted for many subjects for the last two months, said Shivappa.

“In not taking a stand on the court’s order, the government has inconvenienced both students and guest lecturers,” he rued.

UGC has stipulated that all guest lecturers might either have a PhD or have cleared NET/SET/KSET examination.