BHUBANESWAR: The State chapter of Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM), an association of Higher Education Teachers, has protested the Odisha Government’s circular asking to perform duty for at least seven hours on every working day.
Stating that the prolonged stay is not possible, the body of college teachers said the diktat will hardly promote the best interests of either students or the teachers given the infrastructure in the colleges.
In a letter to Secretary of Higher Education department Saswat Mishra, the Mahasangha has appealed that the Government should to invest on one college in every district and develop it as a model one with state-of-the-art reading room, subsidised canteen, gymnasium, swimming pool with a yoga centre besides an audio-visual unit and an indoor sports facility.
“These facilities are add-ons which even National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) gives credence to. There should be a proper study in colleges to revamp the system. While modern amenities are available to students and faculty members in private institutions, Government educational institutions are beggared by comparison,” member of ABRSM’s National Executive Council Narayan Mohanty stated in the letter. Stating that college teachers have traditionally enjoyed flexi-timings owing to the nature and burden of their jobs, the association said, they should not be dissipating their focus by such absurd diktats.