In a move that has drawn strong criticism from academics, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to scrap the much-appreciated Performance Based Appraisal System (PBAS) for teacher promotions, a setup brought in just two years ago following wide deliberations.
At the 489th meeting of the UGC held recently, it was decided to accept the recommendations made by a Revisit Committee, which was formed to reassess norms with regard to teacher appointments and promotions framed in the UGC regulations of 2010, following pressure from teacher associations.
Sources in the UGC said that the revisit panel had recommended that the universities be given more say in the way their teachers were assessed.
Therefore, a prescribed format might not serve the purpose.
However, scrapping the PBAS has evoked much criticism from the academia. S P Thyagarajan, who was part of the committee that framed the 2010 regulations, said he was unhappy with the decision that seemed retrograde.
According to him, the whole idea of PBAS was to bring uniformity across the country on appraisal of teaching faculty.
“When we framed the regulations, it was scrutinised and accepted by the MHRD,” he pointed out.
The format prescribed by the UGC for the assessment under the PBAS was based on a set of Academic Performance Indicators under three different categories. “Not just research, the idea was to provide a 360-degree assessment. We also gave enough space for the universities to tinker the format within the framework,” said Thyagarajan.
Academics felt that the UGC had succumbed to pressure from teacher associations, many of which wanted the norms to go.
“By scrapping the Performance Based Appraisal System, the UGC has now pushed the universities back to the older setup, where merit alone was rarely the consideration for promotions,” said Gopalji Malvia, a former professor of the University of Madras.