Education minister Ashok Choudhary on Thursday said PhD degree holders not conforming to the 2009 guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) would not be considered as assistant professors in universities.
The announcement could be considered being made in view of the criteria fixed for appointment of assistant professors under UGC guidelines.
The education minister, on the sidelines of a felicitation programme of eight President's Medal awardee teachers, said: "The state has no alternative but to abide by UGC directives. According to the 2009 UGC regulations on minimum qualification for appointment of teachers in colleges and universities, candidates need to have passed NET or SLET or PhD." Till 2009, all PhD holders were eligible for teaching jobs even if they lacked NET/SLET qualification.
The eight government school teachers felicitated on Thursday are President's Medal awardee teachers felicitated by Pranab Mukherjee on September 5, Teachers' Day, last year. On Thursday, the teachers received a memento and a cheque of Rs 30,000.
Choudhary said: "To impart quality education in higher education institutions and to ensure good qualified candidates get teaching job in universities, the education department would follow UGC recommendations in appointing assistant professors."
Even UGC chairman Ved Prakash, during his visit to the state capital last week, had categorically called for strict adherence of UGC norms during the appointment of assistant professors.
Even during the advertisement process, the BPSC had made it mandatory for candidates to be NET qualified or hold PhD according to the 2009 UGC regulations. But many candidates, who had completed their PhD before 2009, had protested against government norms, claiming that state universities had introduced PhD regulations late.
The candidates were protesting demanding relaxation in strict PhD norms from the state government but the education minister's stand on Thursday on implementation of UGC recommendations would be a setback for many candidates.
Manoj Kumar, who earned a PhD degree before 2009, said: "The state government's decision of not allowing relaxation to candidates who had done their PhD before 2009 is a setback to many candidates who were expecting that in the larger interest of candidates from Bihar, the state government would give some relaxation."
Sources said the BPSC process for appointment of assistant professors was midway with the executing agency already completing the interview process of Maithali and English candidates.
Sources said according to the UGC 2009 regulations on PhD, many candidates, who have neither cleared NET nor have PhD degrees according to 2009 regulations, would be barred from teaching job in universities.
Sources said though the UGC recommendations on PhD came into force in 2009, many state universities implemented the UGC recommendations late and made many candidates miss the chance from applying for assistant professors' posts. In September 2014, the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) had issued advertisements to fill up 3,364 teaching post in different universities. The advertisement was issued subject- and university-wise.
