DU Teachers Boycott Evaluation In Protest Against Graded Autonomy, Subversion Of Reservation Policy

Delhi University (DU) teachers on 9 May began the boycott of the evaluation of examination papers — in protest against the graded autonomy scheme for educational institutions and the new guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) that subvert the reservation policy in teachers’ appointment.

United under the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), the teachers say the Centre’s move to grant financial autonomy to colleges will only further the privatisation of higher education institutions.

In a letter to the vice-chancellor of Delhi University, Yogesh Kumar Tyagi, teachers stated that “the Scheme of Autonomous Colleges and Graded Autonomy, which push towards self-financing schemes and online courses, will have far reaching consequences for higher education, changing its objectives and purpose especially in a country like ours.”

The teachers added that DU had failed to appoint teachers in various departments leading to an acute shortage.

“For the past year, the appointment process of teachers in colleges was so sluggish that only one college held interviews, that too for one department. Over 1,700 advertised posts are lying vacant in colleges. The fear that these advertisements too will be allowed to lapse is real,” said the letter.

Emphasising on the rollback of the new teachers’ appointment guidelines issued by the UGC, the teachers demanded that DU ask the Commission for special permission to appoint teachers as per the old guidelines issued in 2006.

The new guidelines mandate that central and state universities should treat departments as a unit instead of entire educational institution for recruitment of SC, ST and OBC teachers. This measure will significantly reduce the numbers of faculty seats for members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes.

In a Special Leave Petition, the Centre had stated that the faculty seats for SCs, STs and OBCs would get reduced by 50 per cent, 80 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, in Banaras Hindu University alone.

In its letter, DUTA said the university administration also did not take measures to ensure a safe working environment for women.

“The DUTA had written to you about irregularities in dealing with the cases of sexual harassment. We appeal to you to urgently look into the cases listed in the DUTA representation dated 17 April 2018. It is only by ensuring fair, transparent and time-bound processes for enquiries against complaints that the University can send out a message of Zero Tolerance for sexual harassment,” stated the letter.

The university witnessed a slew of protests after two students alleged they were sexually harassed by their teachers. Another student and a teacher from the chemistry department had levelled similar charges against a teacher in March.

The boycott is likely to delay the exam results for students, but teachers said they have been forced to take this step as the university has refused to heed their demands.