Teachers March to Parliament in defence of public funded Higher Education
Over 5000 teachers from across Central and State universities gathered at Jantar Mantar to further the struggle against PBAS(API), ever growing adhocism and contratualisation of teaching jobs, assault on autonomy of universities and funds cut. The Public Meeting at Jantar Mantar was addressed by leaders of AIFUCTO, FEDCUTA and Unions of various universities. Those who addressed teachers included Professors Arun Kumar, General Secretary AIFUCTO, Keshav Bhattacharya ,President AIFUCTO, Nandita Narain, President, FEDCUTA and DUTA , Ajay Patnaik, Secretary, FEDCUTA and President JNUTA, Ashok Burman former General Secretary AIFUCTO, Vijay Kumar Piyush, Vivekanandan Secretaries AIFUCTO, Manas Behra VP AIFUCTO, Aditya Narain Mishra former President FEDCUTA and DUTA , Subodh Narain Malakar, JNU, and Sandeep, Secretary DUTA.
The Protest programme at Jantar Mantar was joined by leaders of various political parties and Members of Parliament including D. Raja MP CPI, Sitaram Yechuri, MP and General Secretary CPIM, Amarjeet Kaur, secretary AITUC, Prof. T. Meimya MP Congress, Javed Ali Khan MP Samajvadi party, Ali Anwar MP JDU and Arun Kumar MP Rastriya Lok Samta Party.
The Public Meeting was followed by March to Parliament. A delegation was invited by the Minister later in the evening. The meeting started at 7 pm. For more information regarding the meeting please call Arun Kumar, Gen Sec AIFUCTO (09431617320), and Keshav Bhattacharya, President, AIFUCTO (09007580160), who were part of the delegation.
Please scroll down for the Memorandum submitted to Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of HRD by FEDCUTA.
Nandita Narain Ajay Patnaik
President, DUTA & FEDCUTA President, JNUTA; Secretary, FEDCUTA
Shri Prakash Javadekar
Minister of HRD
Shastri Bhawan
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road
New Delhi
5 August 2016
Dear Shri Javadekar,
Thousands of teachers working in Universities and colleges in the higher education sector in the country will join a Public Meeting at Jantar Mantar followed by a March to Parliament, 5 August 2016 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at the call of the All India Federation of University & College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO), the apex body of more than five lakh teachers of Universities & Colleges and the FEDCUTA, the apex body of teachers’ associations of Central universities. Teachers from across Central and state universities have come together to protest funds cut, erosion of academic and administrative autonomy of universities anddeteriorating working conditions.
Ever-increasing contractualisation and adhocisim, delay in promotions and denial of pension has adversely impacted State and Central Universities. Delay and denial of promotions because of API/PBAS has become one of the major issues. It has demotivated teachers and resulted in an exodus of highly qualified and experienced teachers. Resolution of these issues is imperative for motivating and retaining faculty in institutions of Higher Education and for attracting talent to the teaching profession, which are important factors in creating and maintaining standards and quality.
Lack of infrastructure and skewed teacher-student ratio are key issues which need to be addressed to increase quality of education. Despite an increase in seats due to reservation for OBC students since 2007 and the promise of additional posts to universities, the UGC has not released the second tranche of posts. This has resulted in extremely over-crowded classrooms and a very high student-teacher ratio that is not only affecting the quality of teaching but also the global rankings of our universities.
The top-down approach in implementing “reforms” including semesterisation and Choice Based Credit Sysem (CBCS), has further created a gap between the needs of our education system and the restructuring. The worst victims of these hurried ill-devised “reforms” have been students. These “reforms” have failed to respond to the needs of the heterogeneous student population to which Central and State Universities cater and adversely affected quality. University authorities often resort to inflating marks to mask the failure of the semester system. CBCS was implemented in 2015, for which courses were designed centrally by the UGC by handpicked committees. The basic freedom and task of universities to design course-work and syllabi keeping in mind their target student population and to develop specialization was taken away in one stroke. The 3 March 2016 letter of the MHRD, which holds the Registrar and the Finance Officer responsible personally for all financial decisions, has crippled universities further. As a result of the letter, Officials are refusing to take key administrative decisions leading to chaos in universities.
The Education Budget has witnessed a reduction over last three years. Funds cuts have alarmed teachers and research scholars alike. Budget cuts have adversely affected many ongoing programmes, research grants and opening of new courses. Given the socio-economic disparity and the fact that ours is a young country, it is essential that public-spending on Education is increased and universities and colleges are strengthened for quality education and research.
The AIFUCTO and FEDCUTA have called the rally to highlight various demands including the following:
1. Withdraw the PBAS system based on API scores for Career Advancement of teachers as it is completely unacademic and irrational.
2. Expedite promotions and filling of lakhs of vacant posts as per the GOI Reservation Policy for SC/ST/OBC/PWD to ensure access to inclusive quality higher education.
3. No retrospective application of PBAS(API) promotion scheme. Extend Dates for Refresher Courses and Orientation Courses Up to Dec 2015.
4. Ensure time-bound promotions and count past services.
5. Resolve CPF-GPF issue and grant pension to all appointed before 1.1.1986 as per the GOI Policy. Withdraw the New Pension Scheme-2004 and ensure regular pension to all.
6. Early declaration of VIIth Pay Revision. Ensure parity of teaching profession with IAS/All India Services in order to attract and retain talent.
7. Resolve anomalies of VIth Pay Commission and ensure stepping up.
8. Grant UGC pay scales and parity in service conditions to all categories of teachers, librarians, DPEs & other academic staff.
9. Withdraw MHRD letter of 3 March 2016, which is an attack on the administrative autonomy of the Universities.
10. Withdraw the Semester System, CBCS and the Central Universities Bill, 2013.
11. Increase Budget for Education to at least 6% of GDP to strengthen public funded education and stop commercialization of Higher Education. Stop opening Higher Education to private, foreign and domestic capital as per WTO/GATTS.
As you may agree, “Reforms” translate into constructive changes only when they are brought by including feedback from stakeholders. Students are the worst victims of “reforms” implemented in a top-down manner. We appeal to the MHRD to consult teachers, students and AIFUCTO-FEDCUTA and other Teachers’ Organizations on educational policies. The report on New Education Policy has been released and the Government has sought feedback from stakeholders. We hope that extensive consultative processes will be undertaken with teachers’ unions of Universities, colleges and schools, students’ unions, and representatives of marginalised sections before it is finalised.
We also urge you to give the AIFUCTO and the FEDCUTA an opportunity to meet you to discuss and resolve the long standing professional demands of teachers.
With regards,
yours sincerely,
Nandita Narain Ajay Patnaik
President, DUTA & FEDCUTA President, JNUTA; Secretary, FEDCUTA
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