Row over promotion of 1,000 teachers

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, April 14

Over 1,000 promotions made in the School Education Department in the last two years have raised a controversy as the promoted teachers got their master’s degree from a Tamil Nadu-based university under the distance learning mode.

The controversy erupted a few days ago after the Subordinate Service Selection Board (SSSB), Punjab, cancelled the candidature of applicants for 1,192 posts of clerk. They have got their degrees from Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Salem, Tamil Nadu, under the distance education mode.

The SSSB rejected the candidature of some applicants after a ruling of the UGC and the Distance Education Council (DEC) which stated that the degrees of Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation were invalid.

But this decision of the SSSB has landed a large number of promoted lecturers in government schools in a difficult situation as these teachers were promoted from master cadre post to lecturer on the basis of master’s degrees they got from the Vinayaka institute under the distance learning mode.

While rejecting the candidatures of a few applicants on March 16, the Secretary, SSSB, Punjab, quoted the DEC and UGC’s November 2012 and June 2013 notifications according to which the state university (government-funded or private) shall operate only within its territorial jurisdiction and in no case beyond the territory of its location.

Sources in the Education Department said any promotion on the basis of degrees obtained from these universities under the distance learning mode after the UGC and DEC notification was invalid.

Sources said of the total 127 deemed universities, 44 were facing the risk of losing the deemed-to-be university status.

As per rules, under any circumstances the deemed or state universities shall not conduct any course(s) under distance mode without the specific prior approval of the UGC-AICTE-DEC Joint Committee.