NEW DELHI: Outgoing Principal Valson Thampu today said St Stephen's College has been placed lower than many other institutions in NAAC grading as certain "activist" teachers do not do enough reading and pathological politics takes centre stage at the college.
"St Stephen's has been awarded A Grade with a CGPA of 3.21. We are placed lower than Gargi College which has a CGPA of 3.3. There are other Delhi colleges above 3.5. I don't believe this is an unfair assessment of the college," Thampu said, referring to the results as a "healthy but heart- breaking shock" for the college.
"The NAAC Peer Team commented adversely on the fact that many of the teachers in several departments weren't doing enough. The percentage of teachers with PhD was not up to the mark. Research publications weren't enough. Innovative initiatives were few and far between. They emphasised, quite rightly too that the potential of the college was regrettably underutilized," he said in a Facebook post.
Thampu, who has been at loggerheads with a section of teachers who have repetitively raised demands for his removal over various issues, said, "The data coming to light is a cause for worry. An activist member of a certain department, to take just one example, has issued or returned only 2 books in the last 3 years.
"It is only too obvious that where there is no intellectual interest or academic accountability, petty and pathological politics takes centre stage. It is this that convulses St Stephen's College today. Everything is politicised. It runs like a cottage industry and there is a full-time director (who, let us not forget, is paid to teach also), who manufactures crackling 'controversies' like sizzling samosas," he added.
The team from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) had visited the college earlier this month and conducted its inspection. In order to avoid any controversies over bombshell amounts being spent over NAAC team visit by few universities, Thampu had also issued a statement saying the total amount spent by Stephen's for the exercise was Rs 1,77,400.