The Higher Education department is contemplating a rollback of an order that permitted government and aided colleges to hire the services of retired professors up to the age of 70 years as contract lecturers.
The move comes in the face of considerable opposition raised by student, youth and teachers’ organisations especially those affiliated to Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)], the chief constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The order, issued a week ago, laid down guidelines for appointing lecturers on contractual basis in government and government aided colleges that function under the Directorate of Collegiate Education.
Besides the controversial clause that stipulates the age limit, the order specifies the appointment criteria, workload limit, remuneration and the conditions that warranted the appointment of contract lecturers.
Colleges will be permitted to make such appointments only in cases where permanent faculty members have gone on long-term leave for at least three months without allowances. Appointments cannot be made in place of commuted or earned leaves.
It was also mandated that contract lecturers should be appointed by a selection committee chaired by the college principal or a senior professor nominated by him/her and include the head of the department and two subject experts, including one from outside the respective institution.
While candidates who figure in rank lists or short lists prepared by the Kerala Public Service Commission will be provided priority in selection, the order also fixes an assessment criteria involving the award of score for various academic achievements with PhD holders entitled to the highest score of 25.
Official sources point out that the government had framed the guidelines in adherence to the UGC regulations of 2018 that regulated the appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges. Besides, the order assumed relevance since colleges have been conducting appointments for contract lecturers on the basis of the UGC regulations of 2010 thus far.
However, the vehement objections raised by the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), among other organisations, have prompted a rethink.
With such outfits raising concern that the decision could torpedo the job opportunities of several qualified youths, the government will soon issue a revised order sans the age criterion that could be finalised at a later stage after due consultations, sources said.
