NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) announced on Wednesday that PhD will become optional to become an Assistant Professor. The UGC also announced that the National Eligibility Test (NET), State Eligibility Test (SET) and State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) would be the minimum criteria for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor.
Taking to Twitter, UGC Chairman Prof M Jagadesh Kumar said that PhD qualification for appointment as an Assistant Professor would be optional from July 1, 2023.
"NET/SET/SLET shall be the minimum criteria for the direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor for all Higher Education Institutions," he said.
The UGC gazette notification dated June 30 said these regulations may now be called the 'University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) (2nd Amendment) Regulations, 2023.'
The notification said that amendments have been made to the 'University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018.'
Meanwhile, officials said that the final results of the UGC-NET exams will be out in the second week of August. The test determines the eligibility of aspirants for 'Assistant Professor' and 'Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor' in Indian universities and colleges.
UGC-NET is being conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode from December 2018 onwards. The exams are conducted twice yearly - one in December and the other in June.
In 2021, UGC announced that PhD was not mandatory for the direct recruitment of Assistant Professors till July 2023.