{"id":36255,"date":"2023-07-08T03:36:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T22:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=36255"},"modified":"2025-04-21T16:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T11:15:18","slug":"ugcs-changed-rule-to-hire-entry-level-professors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/ugcs-changed-rule-to-hire-entry-level-professors\/","title":{"rendered":"UGC\u2019s changed rule to hire entry-level professors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the University Grant Commission (UGC)?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary: UGC\u2019s changed rule to hire entry-level professors<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What was the system earlier?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why did UGC reverse the decision it had announced in 2018?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How has the academic community reacted?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is no longer mandatory to have a PhD degree to apply for the post of assistant professor in colleges and universities.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is enough to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET), State Eligibility Test (SET), or State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) to be eligible for appointment.<\/li>\n<li>The University Grants Commission (UGC) had notified this change on June 30.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the University Grant Commission (UGC)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The UGC was formally established in November 1956 as a <strong>statutory body<\/strong> by the <strong>UGC Act 1956<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It was set up by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education.<\/li>\n<li>It was established for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India.<\/li>\n<li>It is essentially an autonomous government agency that <u>channels public funds (grants) to higher education institutions<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>This is done in exchange for their compliance with set quality criteria.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It is <strong>headquartered in New Delhi<\/strong> and it has six regional centres in Pune, Bhopal, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Bangalore.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Timeline<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/AjVLE2288HMHwuqxDG9NbXDv7sRoBgQ7tq3ORxRzU0OAhNUJCEySC7mlqVBCSHmJQK1unaXdy5iIaadYvmVJkdqvb5QXgdF1-GGM1upBBhaucSwYb86b954WKW7kOPftlbXEh8dRABBdXNQb_dgKxg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image caption: Evolution of UGC &#8211; timeline<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mandate<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The UGC has the unique distinction of being the only grant-giving agency in the country which has been vested with two responsibilities:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>that of providing funds and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>that of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The UGC`s mandate includes:\n<ul>\n<li>Promoting and coordinating university education.<\/li>\n<li>Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities.<\/li>\n<li>Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.<\/li>\n<li>Monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.<\/li>\n<li>Serving as a vital link between the Union and state governments and institutions of higher learning.<\/li>\n<li>Advising the Central and State governments on the measures necessary for improvement of university education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary: UGC\u2019s changed rule to hire entry-level professors<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>What was the system earlier?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2010 notification<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As per the 2010 notification, candidates for assistant professor must qualify in the NET, SET, or SLET. However, candidates who had PhDs were exempted from this eligibility condition.<\/li>\n<li>In other words, if a candidate had a doctoral degree, she could apply for appointment even if she had not cleared NET, SET, or SLET.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>2018 notification<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The UGC issued a notification in July 2018, which said, \u201cThe PhD Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor in Universities with effect from 01.07.2021.<\/li>\n<li>UGC also directed universities and colleges to implement the new minimum criteria for recruitment from 2021.<\/li>\n<li>However, due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the UGC pushed the July 2021 deadline to July 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Current status<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>UGC first set the date to implement the PhD requirement from July 2021, but this was extended to July 2023.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>However, even before this deadline could kick in, it has once again notified that a PhD is no longer mandatory.<\/li>\n<li>Thus, UGC has reversed its 2018 decision even before it could be implemented.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why did UGC reverse the decision it had announced in 2018?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Analysts believe that the purpose of current change is to <u>increase the accessibility by removing an inessential entry barrier<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>In certain disciplines such as policy-making, design, foreign languages, law, architecture and other similar subjects, universities often find it difficult to get candidates with a PhD.<\/li>\n<li>Removal of mandatory PhD conditions at the entry level will help universities in recruiting candidates with a flair for teaching but without a PhD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>At the same time, it also ensures quality as the new entrants will need to complete PhD to move to the next level (of associate professor).<\/li>\n<li>India produces more than 25,000 PhDs every year. In major disciplines, there is intense competition to select the best PhDs for faculty positions.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, removing PhD as a mandatory condition at the entry-level assistant professor position will not affect the quality of education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How has the academic community reacted?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Teachers acknowledge that removing the PhD requirement could help candidates from marginalised sections.\n<ul>\n<li>PhD is a longer research degree that requires a commitment of time and money.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>People coming from marginalised sections find it very difficult to prolong their studies, mainly women, Dalits, and Adivasi candidates.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>They can now appear for the position of assistant professor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Removing the PhD requirement allows people to enter the profession at a younger age.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)\u00a0What is UGC Act 1956?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The UGC Act 1956 refers to the University Grants Commission Act of 1956, which is an important legislation in India that established the University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC is a statutory body responsible for the coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of university education in India.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong> <strong>What is the significance of a PhD degree?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A PhD represents the highest level of education and demonstrates a deep understanding and expertise in a specific field. It signifies a comprehensive knowledge base and specialized skills acquired through years of research and study.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/phd-college-prof-requirement-ugc-rules-explained-8807171\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Don\u2019t need PhD to teach in a college: A look at UGC\u2019s changed rule to hire entry-level professors<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UGC is an autonomous government agency that channels public funds to higher education institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}