 PROFESSIONAL
 EXCELLENCE-RECRUITMENT & CAREER
 DEVELOPMENT

6.01 Professional Excellence and Status of Teachers

While an adequate standard of material life may be considered to be a precondition for enhancemeat of the status of teachers, by itself, it cannot lead to the desired result. Status can be earned only through the pursuit of professional excellence. Retailing stale knowledge on the counter of a teaching shop or wholesaling uncritically adopted versions of outdated texts from the West may and does make some teachers quite affluent. But the tainted money so earned cannot buy status. Students, however, have a sixth sense, which helps then, distinguish the real from the spurious. There are fortunately, numerous teachers in all fields and in all institutions who inspire respect and are held in great esteem. They have earned this invaritably through commitment to professional excellence. Standard of material life is the necessary condition for status; professional excellence is the sufficient condition.

6.01.01 Factors Comprising Professional Excellence

Though of professional excellence of teachers is not easily quantifiable, it should not bc considered to be a mystical quality. It is synonymous with and may be assessed in terms of level of competence in the performance of already defined functions. This level is determined by an interplay of multiple factors. First, the quality of human material inducted into the profession may be considered to be the initial link in the chain of causation. The procedures and processes through which induction is regulated are, therefore, crucially important. Second, pre-and post-induction training in professional skills and deepening of understanding and appreciation of values may be considered to be a necessary input in professional excellence. Third, since teaching is a life-time profession, professional competence should be viewed in a dynamic frame - as a continuum of rising levels of competence in the performance of defined functions in a rapidly changing society. While proper facilitles for the professional development of teachers need to be made available, what is even more important is to ensure that career dev. elopment becomes contingent upon and sequentially intertwined with professional development. Fourth, greater mobility of teachers both within the teaching profession and between the teaching and other professions and minimisation of the ill-effects of institutional inbreeding contribute to innovation and dynamism in the teaching profession.

6.01.02 Demands of Professional Excellence

Professional excellence of teachers, in short, demands that the teaching profession should be able to attract committed, competent and motivated individuals, to provide adequate training to the inducted human resource, to intertwine carcer with professional development and to retain them in the system.

6.02 Recruitment of Teachers

With a view to have a body of teachers of professional excellence in the country, it is necessary that competent and talented persons are attracted to the profession. While emoluments and conditions of work are quite important in this context, it is equally important to design the criteria and procedures of recruitment in a manner which ensures the induction of the best. There is a strong feeling in the country and particularly among teachers themselves that these suffer from serious limitations, distortions and inadequacies and that remedial steps are called for.

6.02.01 Possibility of Removal of the Inadequacies of the Recruitment System

There is evidence to show that under the pressure of rapid expansion of higher education during

the sixties, adequate care was not taken to ensure the entry of persons with the requisite calibre into the profession. With the revision of pay scales from 1973 onwards, the UGC prescribed minimum qualifications of the teaching staff and now this has been converted into a Regulation for observance in all colleges and universities. A good academic record, evidence of research capabilities as well as a research degree and pedagogic skills are now being increasingly insisted upon, This is a step in the right direction and advances made in this sphere should be further strengthened and consolidated. It is most welcome that a substantial number of teachers, both at the university and the college levels are of the view that a candidate's academic performance should be given much greater weightage than any other factor at the time of first appointment.

6.02.02 Complexity of Assessment of Academic Perfrmance

The assessment of the record of performance is a complex task in any sphere of life; but it is particularly so in the case of academic performance. There is, in this context no way of eliminating sujectivity completely. "Objective" methods of summating marks allotted to number of papers published, grades secured in examinations, years of teaching experience and the like have been tried but have invariably failed to identify suitable candidates for appointment.

6.02.03 Evaluating Academic Achievements

How, then, should we proceed in the matter of evaluating academic achievements at the entry point?

(a) Unreliability and Non-Comparability of Examination Results

Categorical statements have been made by various Committees and Commissions that the examination results are neither reliable nor valid and comparable. It is recognised that the standards of performance vary from university to university, and that universities which are a little more exacting are less generous with their scores. Evidently, a way has to be found to ensure not only that justice is being done but also that it appears to be done.

(b) The National Yardstick-An All-India Merit Test

Many teachers, during discussions with the Commission, suggested a way of getting over the problems of inter-university comparability and of ensuring that persons with dubious academic records do not get faculty appointments on extraneous grounds. An All-India merit test may be held in each subject under the auspices of a technically competent national body with a high level of credibility, and only candidates securing grades above a given cut-off point in this test may be considered to be eligible for being appointed as lecturers in any college or university in the country. It is not being suggested that faculty appointments should be made on the basis of such a test. The university/college would induct faculty through selection committees in terms of the relevant statutes and ordinances. But it must be ensured that every citizen aspiring to be a teacher at the tertiary level qualifies in terms of a national Yardstick. Protective discrimination may be built, into the system to offset disparities of various kinds. Since the first appointment presupposes doctoral work and since the UGC as well the CSIR hold an All-India test for fellowships at this stage, the grade secured by a candidate in this test may be utilised for drawing up a list of candidates eligible for lecturerships in colleges and universities of the country. It is conceded that the task of holding an All-India test in each subject is fairly complex. It is, however, suggested that if this proposal were to be implemented in such a manner that the test becomes reliable, valid and comparable from the academic and the technical points of view, the problem of regulating the induction of persons with high calibre into the universities and colleges of the country would be largely taken care of and the dream of having a national cadre of aca- demics with high inter-regional mobility would have been realised. We recommend that the UGC should incorporate the passing of one of the national tests at least in grade B+on a seven-point scale in its Regulation laying down the minimum qualifications of teachers and that this should come into force within two years.

6.02.04 Enlargement of Catchment. Area and Minimisation of Inbreeding

Screening prospective teachers through the mechanism of an All- India test has the additional advantage of enlarging the catchment area of recruitment and minimising inbreeding and localisation in uni- versities, which have acquired alarming proportions. A committee to enquire into the working of the central universities recently assessed the extent of inbreeding in one of these at 85 per cent in the case of first-level appointments and at 92 per cent in the case of faculty members coming from the States concerned and the adjacent States. If such is the case in central universities, the magnitude of the pheno- menon in State universities and colleges can be imagined. The restriction of the catchment area is hav-

ing a negative impact an academic development at the territory level particularly as it impedes the introduction of innovative courses as well as new research areas, retards cross-fertilisation of ideas and ordinarily permits work only along the beaten track. It has been strongly argued by many educationists that appointment of teachers on an All-India basis would be conducive to national integration. We. therefore, suggest that at least 25 per cent of teachers, recruited at the initial level should be from outside the state in which they are recruited. The question of medium of instruction leads us to suggest that such teachers should be given an opportunity to acquire linguistic proficiency within two years.

6.02.05 Plugging of Loopholes in the Induction Process

While an All-India qualifying test may contribute substantially to the general. improvement in the level of competence of faculty appointments, many loopholes in the induction procedures need to be filled if the evils of nepotism, parochialism and undesirable pressures and interventions have to be eliminated. The process of recruitment is so cumbersome and time-consuming that a large number of posts remain vacant. Such a situation is taken advantage of for the back-door entry of less competent people into the profession through ad-hoc and temporary appointmonts which should in no case extend beyond one year.

6.02.06 Advertisement

The Sen Committee of the UGC recommended that selections at the university level should be through open recruitment where the vacancies are advertised and selection is made on an All-India basis. It seems a safe statement to make that this advice is not being followed in most cases. Quite frequently posts are advertised locally and no systematic attempt is made to cover the national catchment area through an All-India advertisement. All-India advertisement may be considered to be a crucial step towards improving recruitment procedures.

(a) A fortnightly Employment Bulletin is recommended to be brought out by a suitable agency (may be the Association of Indian Universities) and all faculty positions in the country should be advertised therein. It may be subscribed to by all institutions and willing individuals. Such a bulletin would be financially viable and no subsidy would be called for While a university/college should be free to advertise wherever else it likes, it should be made mandatory for them to advertise through the Bulletin. This fact may be publicised widely so that any one who is looking for a faculty position knows where to turn to for this kind of information.

(b) It is also necessary to refer to the time given to a candidate to send his application. In no case, should it be less than a fortnight, though the norm should be regarded as three weeks. In certain cases it could also be four weeks. In other words, the range should be - between two and four weeks.

6.02.07 Application Form

Different universities have different application forms. Not only that, several universities charge a small sum of money for supplying that form. In several cases, letters asking for the application forms are not dealt with in time and the candidate hardly gets a few days to comply with all the formalities. Instances are not unknown where such a letter remains unanswered and the prospective candidates are thus debarred from being considered for appointment. We would like, to suggest that the application form should be standardised. A draft proforma is appended. * This proforma, could be finalised through discussion between the UGC and the AIU. The appli- cation forms should be available in all colleges against the payment of a token amount of, say, one rupee.

6.02.08 Short-Listing of Candidates

Preparing a short-list of candidates who are to be invited for interview is a ticklish job. The procedure followed in most universities is that all applications are referred to the Head of the department. In certain cases he acts entirely on his own. In certain other cases he acts in consultation with the Dean of the faculty. If he himself happens to be the Dean, some other individual is designated for the purpose. These two individuals evolve criteria for candidates being invited to the interview. All those who are covered by those criteria are invited to attend the interview.

(a) While the situations Would vary from discipline to discipline and institution to institution, the following guidelines are suggested :

(i) Short-listing should never be entrusted to the clerical cadre. The decision is essentially academic and therefore must be made by academicians.

(ii) All candidates who have qualified in the proposed all-India test and who satisfy the UGC Regulation should be short-listed. If their number is more than the first seven in order of merit should be short-listed for being called for interview for a single post. If the number of posts is large, about three times as many candidates as the number of posts should be called for interview.

(iii) The criterion of short-listing Should be clearly stated on the biodata sheets. In addition, it must be certified that the criterion is consistent with die criterion followed earlier and, if it is not, the reasons for change; and, secondly, that all those who qualify in terms of the criterion are invited.

6.02.09 Selection of Experts

Selection of exports and their actual presence at the time the Selection Committee meets is crucial for a merit-based choice. Experts are empanelled in different ways in different universities. But since the UGC as well as the AIU have compiled a list or file staff of all universities, this should serve as a master panel. Since each subject has a number of specialisations and a department or a post may require a particular specialisation, it Would be reasonable to identify a department's special interests once in two years and short-list the experts in that field, using the master panel. It should be open to the Vice-Chancellor to select the experts to be invited to the meeting of the Selection Committee. We are not in favour of the Chancellor doing it, both because the Vice-Chancellor should be considered worthy of such trust and because it is most likely that in view of the Chancellor's many pre-occupations, the actual selection would be, made by his office, which is not likely to have the competence and judgement required.

6.02.10 Composition of Selection Committee

In quite a few universities the executive council or the syndicate also nominates one member on the selection committee. Most often such an individual is a non-academic person. In our opinion, the selection of teachers is essentially and academic task and nomination of a non- academic, therefore, on the selection committee, wherever it exists, should be abolished forthwith.

(a) The participation of external experts and the elimination of non-academic persons should be insisted upon in the case of college selection committees as well. External should be taken to mean external to the university, and not to the college. The following observations of the committee appointed to enquire into the working of the central universities , in the case of a central university, are pertinent and should be kept in view :

"we regret to note that in the case of college teachers, even through the qualifications and the scales of pay are the same as for University appointed lecturers,the majority of those appointed are persons who have obtained their Post graduate degrees from Delhi University. Form the evidence of the distinguished persons whom the Committee met, this is due to the composition of the Selection Committees and the role played by th concerned Heads of Departments. We were informed that at the beginning of the academic year when the posts of Lecturers are advertised by different colleges, some of the Heads of the University Departments concerned, (who are assisted by another teacher of the same Department as an expert) go to the extent of preparing a list, even before the selection are held, of persons who have to be accommodated in a particular college. we would, therefore, recommend that since the scale of pay of the Lecturers in the colleges and the university are identical and so are the qualifications, the constituation of the selection committees, particulary in relation to the appointment of exports, should be on the same basis as for University appointed Lecturers."

(b) In the past, two exports were invited for lecturer's and reader's selection and three for professor's We understand the UGC has now recommended that there should be three experts in each case and that quorum should be so defined as to make the presence of at least two experts unavoidable. We are in favour of this recommendation. The UGC has circulated another recommendation to ensure that "internal" candidates do not have an inbuilt bias in their favour; this requires that the university's own Head of Department/Dean should not be present. Even through we may not go as far as that , we share the UGC's concern. The first-level appointment

should indeed be free of all bias and based purely on merit.

6.02.11 Date of Interview

In quite a few cases, the date of interview is sometimes manipulated, and the reasons given for the same cannot bear too close a scrutiny. To deal with this situation we would like to propose that if the delay is more than two months or so, reasons for that delay should be stated in writing both to the selection committee when it meets and to the executive council/syndicate when the matter is reported to it.

PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE-RECRUITMENT & CAREER DEVELOPMENT