THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has removed the upper age limit of 45 years for direct recruitment to the post of associate professor in the state’s universities. This has paved way for more government and aided college teachers, with proven academic and research contributions, to apply for the post in various universities in the state.
In an order issued recently, the Higher Education Department said the upper age limit was waived off based on the recommendation of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).
The council’s executive body had considered a representation to this effect from Kerala History Congress general secretary N Gopakumaran Nair. The University Grants Commission (UGC) had clearly stipulated that there is no upper age limit for the associate professor post, as such posts are to be filled through promotion from among the teachers of the university or through direct recruitment.
However, universities in state, while issuing notification for the post of associate professor, had been blatantly violating UGC norms by fixing 45 years as the upper age limit. This had dissuaded many teachers from affiliated colleges to apply for the post.
A welcome move
According to Rajan Varghese, member secretary of KHSEC, the decision will increase the mobility of college teachers to the university stream. “Most of the college teachers were denied the chance to switch to universities as they could not acquire the prescribed qualifications within the upper age limit. Also the faculty positions in universities do not come up that regularly,” he said.
Gopakumaran Nair who gave the representation said the upper age limit for the post of assistant professor - the entry level appointment for both the college and university teachers - was fixed at 40 years. “So it is quite irrational to think in terms of a teacher becoming qualified to apply for the post of associate professor at the age of 45,” he said.
Anomaly in Kerala University
It was also pointed out in the representation that the University of Kerala provides age relaxation for teachers affiliated to that university alone while applying for the post of associate professor. “This amounts to regional discrimination. Till 2012, the university was providing equal opportunity to all college teachers form the state, but later dispensed with the practice without any reason,” Gopakumaran Nair said.