J&K college teachers decry violation of UGC norms

The J&K College Teachers Association (JKCTA), Jammu wing, has alleged violations of UGC Regulations of 2010 and 2018, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and the UGC Curriculum and Credit Framework for undergraduate programmes.

In a letter to the Financial Commissioner of the Higher Education Department, JKCTA president Rakesh Jasrotia said the fresh directives issued by the Director Colleges had “overburdened faculty members and compromised the quality of education”.

According to the association, the workload of Assistant Professors and Associate Professors has been increased in violation of UGC norms. While the UGC Regulations of 2010 and 2018 prescribe 16 hours of direct teaching per week for Assistant Professors and 14 hours for Associate Professors, the Higher Education Department has directed an increase to 18 hours. The association described this as a “clear violation of norms”.

The teachers also objected to the arbitrary increase in the size of student groups for practical classes. “As per the UGC norms, a practical group of science subjects needs to comprise 25 students for effective and quality practical work, and it has been followed for many years. But, for the reasons best known to the Director Colleges, the strength of a practical group for science students has been arbitrarily increased from 25 to 40, thereby overloading the college teachers,” the letter read.

Similarly, the association criticised the decision to raise the maximum strength of students in theory classes from 80 to 120 per section. “This arbitrary increase in the maximum strength of students in one section for theory classes is not only violating the UGC norms but also vitiating the principle of quality education, the core of NEP-2020,” the letter stated.

The JKCTA has urged the government to review the directives at the earliest.