New Delhi: With central university teachers going on strike on Saturday, the mid-term exams of Delhi University colleges have been badly hit. A majority of the colleges, including Sri Ram College of Commerce, Kirori Mal, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Sri Venkateswara, Zakir Hussain, Satyawati, Arobindo, have decided to reschedule their exams due to the protest. But some others like Daulat Ram College remained undecided and will wait for the teachers to take a decision on the issue on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a few colleges like Miranda House, Ramjas, Hansraj and Maitreyi, among others, are continuing with the exams as scheduled. Principal of Miranda House, Pratibha Jolly, said: ‘‘There will be no disruption in exams in our college.’’

The Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) has called a nationwide strike protesting against the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) proposed service conditions of university and college teachers scheduled to be adopted in the council meeting on January 16.

The teachers allege that if adopted, the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for teachers, as proposed by the UGC Committee, would force teachers to pay more attention to other activities rather than concentrate on quality in teaching — the primary responsibility of any teacher. The promotion modalities have been so devised that it would deflect teachers’ attention from their primary responsibility, they allege.

Moreover, the UGC Committee has given weightage to activities such as campus development, institutional governance, consultancy projects, etc, which are not under control of teachers and solely depend upon administrator’s discretion. According to them, such approach would lead to sycophancy in universities and colleges.

source: TOI