New Delhi: In a move to enhance the quality of higher education in India, human resources development minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday that a Ph.D. degree had been mandatory for recruitment as a university teacher from the 2021-22 academic year, and passing the National Eligibility Test (NET) would not suffice. At present, those who have a Ph.D. or have cleared NET are eligible to apply for recruitment as assistant professor, the entry-level position in Indian universities.
However, a masters degree with NET or Ph.D. would continue to be the minimum eligibility requirement for recruitment in colleges, a senior HRD official said.
Announcing the new University Grants Commission regulations, Mr Javadekar said Academic Performance Indicators (API), resisted by many teachers as research was made compulsory for college teachers, had also been scrapped so that they can focus on teaching students.
“The whole effort is to improve the quality of higher education and to attract and retain the best talent in the country. All the incentives of earlier regulations have been maintained but the API for college teachers has been removed. Now college teachers would not have to mandatorily do research, but must concentrate on giving a better education to undergraduate students,” he said.
Teaching outcomes would be considered for promotion and if a teacher does research, it would attract additional points for promotion, the minister added.
“The new recruitment for universities will (be limited to) Ph.D. holders. We have given time of three years. So from 2021, assistant professors (entry-level position) will have to hold Ph.D. degrees,” Mr Javadekar said. The minister said Indian students who got their Ph.D. degree from the top 500 universities abroad will also be eligible for appointment in universities. Such students are not eligible now to get teaching jobs in Indian universities.
The minister said that for the first time a provision had been made for promotion in colleges up to the professor level. The regulations also mandate that newly-recruited teachers in universities and colleges have to undergo a one-month compulsory induction programme.
