NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said on Sunday that no leave was being granted to “only” those faculty members who were defying the rules of the varsity and the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The announcement came days after several teachers alleged that the varsity had been denying them leave, even if it was requested for a conference or seminar abroad, on the grounds that they were not marking their attendance or submitting the attendance records of their students. The Jawaharlal Nehru University has close to 600 faculty members.
“The workload of teachers in full employment should not be less than 40 hours a week for 30 working weeks (180 teaching days) in an academic year. It should be necessary for the teacher to be available for at least five hours daily in the university/college,” the varsity said, citing the UGC regulations on the minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2018, adopted by its statutory body.
As decided by the statutory bodies of the university, the faculty members are also required to record the attendance of students in their respective classes and send the details to the university through their chairpersons or deans, it said.
The JNU Executive Council, in its meeting on November 20, noted “with serious concern that some faculty members are refusing to adhere to the attendance rules for the teachers of JNU and are refusing to take the student attendance in their classes”.
The council decided that appropriate action should be taken against faculty members not abiding by the university rule of marking their attendance, JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said.
The administration is seeking information regarding adherence to the attendance rule from all faculty members applying for leave, the registrar added.
In response, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teacher’s Association (JNUTA) said: “The administration has started disrupting all academic activities, including organisation of and participation in national and international conferences, by denying teachers not just the duty leave but also those which fall during vacations.”
The association has called for a hunger strike on Monday, demanding the restoration of ‘academic and institutional functioning’ of the varsity.
What the rules say
The university says that according to University Grants Commission regulations, the workload of teachers in full employment should not be less than 40 hours a week for 30 working weeks (180 teaching days) in an academic year. It should be necessary for the teacher to be available for at least five hours daily in the university or College.