Despite warnings, Delhi University teachers continue evaluation boycott

Teachers across the Delhi University (DU) colleges continued with their ongoing evaluation boycott on Saturday, a day after the administration issued a circular citing an "Executive Council (EC) resolution" that makes the evaluation work mandatory for teachers.

Agitated by the move, teachers also issued a counter-statement mentioning several other EC resolutions, which were allegedly being violated on the administration's behalf.

Due to the boycott, the evaluation process of around 1.5 lakh students have been delayed by over a month. The DU Teachers Association (DUTA) had announced its boycott in May first week, in view of several "unaddressed" issues at the university end and some recent decisions taken by the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, including the 'autonomy move'. "The administration is suffering from selective Dementia. They forget about it when it comes to the cause of teachers and students. They only remember it the moment it can be used against the teachers," said Rajesh Jha, a professor at Rajdhani College and an EC member.

Citing the fact that the ongoing agitation is a result of long-pending "grievances" of teachers and terming it "Satyagraha", he said, "The same resolution, which the administration has cited, prohibits to have more than 10 per cent of the staff on an ad-hoc basis. However, presently, more than 60 per cent of the teachers working in the university are ad-hocs. We have been fighting for their absorption since the last ten years." There has been no fresh recruitment at the university since 2007 and thousands of ad-hocs are filling in the vacancies.

According to DUTA president, Rajib Ray, Centre's autonomy move has triggered widespread anger among the teachers. "The move will not only privatise the higher education but also make it inaccessible for students coming from economically challenged backgrounds. The moment the ministry started holding meetings with officials of two DU colleges (St Stephens and Hindu) on the scheme, teachers got furious," he said.

Besides, the University Grants Commission (UGC) March 5th notification, that changes the reservation policy in teachers recruitment, is among other reasons behind the agitation.

Meanwhile, DUTA has announced to hold a General Body meeting on Wednesday to decide the future course of action.

‘Unaddressed Issues’

The DU Teachers Association (DUTA) had announced its boycott in May first week, in view of several ‘unaddressed’ issues at the university end and some recent decisions taken by the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, including the ‘autonomy move’