Patna, July 25: The Raj Bhavan secretariat has sought guidelines from the University Grants Commission (UGC) on teachers' promotion under its career advancement scheme.

Raj Bhavan wrote the letter to the UGC on July 21, stating that many teachers have knocked its doors and approached the high court for guidelines on criteria of promotions. Sources said till now, majority of teachers appointed in 2003 and 1996 have been promoted without doing refresher or orientation courses, as mandated by the UGC in its 1998 guidelines.

For the scheme, teachers need to have at least three to four weeks' participation in orientation, refresher courses or summer institutes. These are meant for the teachers' academic improvement. The academic staff college at Patna University runs such courses.

Anil Kumar, the general secretary of Patna University Teachers' Association, said: "There are not too many of such teachers at Patna University but in other universities such as Magadh or Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Muzaffarpur), there are many."

Many teachers appointed in 2003 have been irregular in participating in the refresher or orientation courses as mandated by the higher education regulator but have been promoted. As many teachers have bypassed the UGC notification such, they have become a financial burden on the exchequer.

"In 1996, around 1,300 teachers were appointed and in 2003, around 1,000 teachers were appointed. Out of them, around 20 to 30 per cent teachers have been promoted in spite of bypassing the UGC notification," said Randhir Kumar Singh, former general secretary of Patna University Teachers' Association.