MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently observed that it is not necessary to appoint law graduates as guest or part-time lecturers to teach law subjects in arts and science colleges in the state.
A bench of Justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel was disposing of a PIL filed seeking direction to ensure that only guest lecturers or part-time lecturers with requisite law qualifications are engaged to teach law subjects in all arts and science colleges across Tamil Nadu.
T Muthukrishnan, a part-time lecturer from Tirunelveli, stated in his petition that B.Com and B.B. A.students have law classes six hours a week. But these classes are assigned to assistant professors who do not have law qualifications, he alleged.
Appointing faculty with law qualifications to teach law subjects in arts and science colleges would be ideal for providing quality education to the students, he added.
However, the judges observed that the court cannot lay down standards as to who is to teach what subject. Colleges and universities would assess the teachers on their knowledge of the particular subject in which they are engaged to teach the students.
The court cannot sit in judgment over the qualifications, knowledge and skills available in a particular teacher, the judges further said. They appreciated the petitioner’s concern and disposed of the petition.