Govt diktat hits studies in state colleges

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, August 3

The Haryana Government’s recent diktat imposing a ban on employment of teachers for extension lectures has hit studies at government colleges across the state. The academic session has already begun but the state colleges face an acute shortage of teachers, thanks to the government orders.

Sources said the posts of college teacher had been lying vacant for several years. However, as there was no recruitment of regular teachers, the college authorities used to engage qualified teachers as resource persons to deliver extension lectures at Rs 250 per lecture. Nearly 4,000 such teachers used to get employment at the state colleges during the academic session.

Such teachers have lately become the backbone of college education in Haryana. Like previous years, the authorities of government colleges had engaged resource persons to deliver extension lectures before the beginning of the current academic session.

However, on July 21, the Director of Higher Education (DHE) shot off a letter to the Principals of the government colleges, directing them that no resource-persons were to be engaged for extension lectures during the academic session 2015-16 till further orders. On July 24, the college principals received a fresh communiqué from the DHE, which stated that only retired principals/associate professors/assistant professors could be engaged as resource persons during the current academic session. The colleges authorities maintained that it was impractical as the number of retired teachers was grossly inadequate to meet the demand.

“We face an acute shortage of teachers as we have been told not to engage resource persons for extension lectures. We have conveyed this to the state authorities and are waiting for fresh orders,” said Dr Ved Prakash, Principal of Neki Ram Sharma Government College, Rohtak.

Official sources maintained that the college had nearly 70 regular teachers while more than 120 teachers used to be engaged on extension-lecture basis. Similar situation prevails at other colleges as well where the principals are under dual pressure from teachers as well as students.

Students of Government College for Women here recently staged a demonstration and apprised the local administrative authorities of their concerns.

Upper age limit for college lecturers raised

Chandigarh: The Haryana Government has decided to raise the entry-level upper age limit for lecturers in government-aided colleges across the state up to 42 years, at par with that of teachers working in government colleges. An official spokesman made this announcement here on Monday that a proposal to this effect had been approved by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. — TNS