THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Alleging large-scale irregularities in the award of doctorates, the rank holders of UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) have urged universities and colleges to end the practice of appointing PhD holders without NET qualification as teachers.
The UGC has prescribed NET as the qualification for teacher appointments. However, PhD holders are exempted from it. “The state Higher Education Department had issued an order exempting researchers without proper coursework from NET qualification. This is a blatant violation of UGC regulations on teachers’ appointments,” said P Sreejith of UGC Qualified Group - an association of UGC NET rank holders.
The UGC Qualified Group has written to the Governor urging him to revoke the government order which stated that all candidates who obtained PhD on or before 10-7-2009 and who have registered before this period for PhD can be exempted from NET qualification. “We are basically opposed to the way in which weightage is given to PhD holders for publication of research papers in reputed journals.
Usually such papers are ghost written by research guides. Therefore, giving weightage for such a malpractice cannot be justified,” he said. “Giving weightage to PhD holders for published research material puts NET qualified candidates at a disadvantage. Besides, more and more people are misusing PhD as a way to get relaxation from NET qualification,” the UGC Qualified Group alleged.
Since NET is generally accepted as a benchmark for the aptitude in teaching and research, diluting it for undeserving PhD holders will only lead to the deterioration of the standards of higher education, Sreejith said. The PSC does not give weightage to candidates who only have PhD.
However, when it comes to appointment in aided colleges, this category is given undue preference. The UGC Qualified Group urged the Universities and colleges to give first preference to candidates who have both NET and PhD qualifications.
If the candidate has either NET or PhD, it should be considered as a basic qualification for appointment in aided colleges.
