DU teachers protest Smriti Irani's visit to Khalsa College

New Delhi, July 1: HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Friday faced protest by teachers at Delhi University's Khalsa College when she went there to inaugurate a teaching-learning centre, following which 45 of them were detained by police.

DU teachers, protesting against the new UGC norms to ascertain their academic performance, gathered outside the gate and tried to block the entry of Irani into the college.

According to police officials, around 45 teachers were detained. The Guru Angad Dev Teaching Learning Centre has been set up under the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching, an HRD Ministry initiative.

The protesting teachers have boycotted evaluation of undergraduate exam papers and stayed away from admission process.

The teachers argued that the amendments to UGC regulations will lead to job-cuts to the tune of 50 per cent and drastically decrease pupil-teacher ratio in higher education.

The new Gazette notification has increased the workload for assistant professors from 16 hours of "direct teaching" per week (including tutorials) to 18 hours, plus another six of tutorials, bringing the total up to 24 hours.

Similarly, the work hours of associate professors have been increased from 14 to 22 hours, they said.

PTI