Consider research experience while hiring, lecturers tell govt

Urging the state government to lay emphasis on research skills while hiring teaching faculty for degree colleges, a section of guest lecturers has demanded a tweak in recruitment regulations.

Under current regulations, assistant professors for colleges are hired based on a common entrance test (CET), which includes questions on subject expertise and general knowledge. However, this does gross injustice to those who have invested efforts in writing papers and taking part in conferences to hone their research skills, the lecturers have argued.

Seeking the government to include these parameters in addition to the CET, as many as 15 guest lecturers have filed objections to the draft Karnataka Education Department Services (Collegiate Education Department) (Recruitment) (Special Rules), 2020. The government, which notified it last month, had invited objections for the same.

The draft notification is a run up to the CET, likely to be held this year to fill up 1,240 posts of assistant professors in various colleges that come under the Department of Collegiate Education. The draft rules propose minor changes to the CET format, recommending a 300-mark exam with 250 for subject questions and 50 for GK (as opposed to the earlier 200 and 100 score divide, respectively) along with the introduction of negative scores.

Lecturers have observed that the UGC’s minor and major research grants see a few takers from degree colleges and this can change if faculty with research experience are hired.

Speaking to DH, a government college guest lecturer, among those who filed the objection, explained: “The state government brought in the CET to avoid corruption during recruitment interviews. While this was commendable, the government will not be able to attract competent faculty by not considering research and prior teaching experience. As per UGC guidelines, both Central and state universities allot 50% marks for academic record & research and the other half for domain knowledge, teaching skills and interview. The same needs to be done with colleges, too.”

Commissioner for Collegiate Education Anirudh Sravan said the present regulations were already framed in line with UGC guidelines. “All objections will be examined. However, anything that is not compliant with UGC guidelines cannot be added at this juncture,” he said.