CHENNAI: Candidates, who have got doctoral degrees before Tamil Nadu universities started implementing the 2009 University Grants Commission regulations, have demanded exemption from teacher’s eligibility tests to enable them to join as teachers in government arts and science colleges.
The demand assumes significance in the wake of the recent vacancies in the government colleges, announced by the Teacher’s Recruitment Board (TRB) on August 28. The board has invited applications from candidates who meet the eligibility criteria stipulated by the UGC rules.
The UGC regulations mandate all applicants to have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) or Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) or State Eligibility Test (SLET). However, an exemption was given to candidates who got a PhD before the regulations were passed.
Even as the UGC issued the regulations in 2009, many universities in Tamil Nadu implemented them only later, according to RTI responses Express had access to. For example, Alagappa University and Bharathiar University implemented the regulations only in 2011, University of Madras in 2010 and Periyar University in 2013.
Therefore, those, who have completed their PhD after 2009, but before the date on which a particular university implemented the UGC regulations, should be allowed to apply, said the Ph.D-holders aspiring for teaching jobs in government arts and science colleges. Express could not reach TRB officials for comments through repeated phone calls.
“When TRB notified vacancies in 2013, they made an exemption for such candidates. Therefore, many candidates did not appear for the eligibility tests until now. However, this year’s notification invites applications only from candidates who meet the UGC’s 2009 regulations without mentioning any exemption,” said Venkatesan Thangaraj from the Tamil Nadu All Government College UGC Qualified Guest Lecturers Association. He also said many experienced faculty members would not be able to apply for the vacancies because of this.
The TRB has notified a total of 2,340 vacancies for the post of assistant professors in government arts and science colleges, of which 81 are backlog vacancies, four reservation shortfall vacancies, and three are to teach students with hearing disabilities and the rest are current vacancies.