Cast your NET wide

•Q: Is it mandatory to pass the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC to qualify for lectureship? What is the age limit for lectureship / JRF? I am in my final year of LLM.

— Pranav Kaushik

• A:The University Grants Commission (UGC) has relaxed the rules for appointing college and university teachers, accepting the recommendations of the NET review committee.

PhD holders no longer need to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET) to be eligible for appointment as lecturers in postgraduate or undergraduate educational institutes.

Similarly, MPhil holders do not need to appear for NET.

Those who passed the UGC / CSIR JRF exam before 1989 are also exempted from taking the NET. Moreover, PhD-holders who completed their masters before September 19, 1991, will get a relaxation of five per cent (50 per cent instead of 55 per cent at the postgraduate level) if they wish to take the NET. As for your second query, there is no upper age limit for lectureship. (While the age limit is 28 years for JRF, there is a five-year relaxation for reserved categories and a three-year relaxation for LLM degree holders).

This move will open up opportunities for those who have MPhils and PhDs but failed to pass the NET exam earlier and enable universities to fill up thousands of vacancies at technical institutes. UGC has announced six new scholarships — three each in sciences and social sciences stream — for which the scholarship amount has been increased to Rs 60 crore. Around 1,500 junior research fellowships will be offered in both streams.

To encourage research, the fellowship amount has been increased to Rs 12,000 per month from Rs 8,000 earlier (from April 2007). Similarly, the JRF / SRF (professional) fellowship has been increased from Rs 9,500 to Rs 14,000.

Have a way with numbers

• Q: Could you please give me some information about the Mathematical Sciences Foundation, Delhi, particularly about its postgraduate programme?

— Gauri Dasgupta

• A: The Mathematical Sciences Foundation, Delhi, runs a one-year masters level course — graduate studies programme in mathematics.

Some universities like the University of Houston in Texas, the US, have recognised the course. Three departments of the university — mathematics, physics and computer science — have agreed to admit students who successfully complete this programme to their graduate school with full teaching assistantships.

After you complete your first year of study at the Mathematical Sciences Foundation in Delhi, you can take the GRE and enrol for a MS programme in mathematics, computer science or physics, and leave for Houston to complete the degree.

Gear up and set sail on the high seas

• Q: What are the opportunities in the merchant navy? Our son is keen on a seafaring job.

— Krishen Mendiratta

• A: As shipping serves more than 90 per cent of the global trade, the industry is booming and generating a lot of employment opportunities for students of maritime education.

As a matter of fact, there is a worldwide shortage of officers in the merchant navy. And this is expected to continue well into 2010. There is a shortfall of 1,500 seafarers in the officer’s grade in India.

The country’s largest shipping company, the Shipping Corporation of India (fleet of 84 ships), is short of 500 seafarers. There is a move to recruit foreign seafarers to fill this gap. With Indian shipping companies investing over $4 billion in the next three to four years in new ships, upgrading their infrastructure and increasing their export tonnage, the manpower requirement is expected to go up significantly.

there are only 800 Indian ships out of a total of 50,000 in the world, most foreign flag vessels are being manned by Indians at all levels.

In fact, Indian officers are globally rated right at the top thanks to their high standard of education and proficiency in English — particularly in segments such as speciality vessels and tankers that require quality seamen, where they even command a premium over their counterparts from Philippines, Russia and China. IGNOU and directorate general of shipping (DGS) offer a course in nautical sciences leading to a BSc (nautical science) at DGS-approved academies across the country.

DGS regulates the private academies that have been recognised by it. Candidates passing out of these institutes get a Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC), which is a license to work on board a ship. DGS has also made it compulsory for all pre-sea institutes to be benchmarked by agencies like CRISIL, CARE and ICRA. Information about the rating can be found on: www.dgship ping.com.