CHENNAI: Guest lecturers employed in government colleges across the state have urged the higher education department to standardise the issuance of experience certificates. Currently, there’s a lack of uniformity as some colleges consider the duration of employment in terms of days while others use the number of months. They said the disparity will affect their regularisation of service and additional marks in examinations for experience.
The colleges in Tamil Nadu commence around June 15 and end on April 15 of the following year, and many government colleges issue experience certificates for 11 months, considering June and April as a complete duration. However, some institutions provide certificates for only 10 months, despite guest lecturers working the same period, said the teachers.
As per the order issued by the higher education department, guest lecturers working in government colleges who clear the open written examinations shall be awarded a weightage of two marks for each academic year, subject to a maximum of 15 marks in the interview component as a one-time measure.
The department had also issued a government order for regularising guest lecturers with a minimum of five years of experience. The anomaly in the experience certificates would affect the guest lecturers with less than nine years of experience.
“Colleges, especially in Gudiyatham, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore, provide experience certificates for only 10 months. The directorate of college education should issue guidelines so that these guest lecturers are not affected,” said V Thangaraj, president of Tamil Nadu All Government College UGC Qualified Guest Lecturers Association.
Meanwhile, officials in the directorate of collegiate education said nobody has brought this issue to their notice yet, but will look into it.