UGC Mulls Allowing Industry Experts To Teach In Universities

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) is contemplating introducing a system under which industry experts are allowed to teach as full-time or part-time faculty members in central universities, according to an official.

The UGC has also proposed that the experts will be eligible for teaching in universities even if they don’t possess a PhD or NET qualification.

According to the official, special positions like a professor of practice and associate professor of practice are set to be created. Under the proposal, experts willing to teach can be hired as full-time or part-time faculty members depending on the needs of the university. He also added that experts who have retired at 60 will also be eligible for these positions. They can work till 65.

The possibilities were discussed at a meeting attended by the UGC chairman and the vice-chancellors of central universities recently. The higher education regulator will set up a panel to look into how this can be done and it will submit its report, the official informed news agency PTI.

Plans have also been made to set up a portal to act as a single point for those willing to apply to a university for teaching.

However, the move earned criticism from Delhi University Professor Abha Dev Habib. “The government is freeing itself of the pressure of giving jobs to qualified teachers on permanent basis. Teachers who have been teaching for past several years are not ‘experts’ and cannot be made permanent or even be shortlisted for permanent interviews (as is the case in many Delhi University departments),” the Delhi University professor said.

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