Teachers may get another hearing

Teachers of central universities and colleges have rejected the new pay hike offered by the government and have been demanding that they be given pay scales recommended by the UGC.

The meeting called today followed a Delhi High Court order, directing the government and the teachers’ representatives to settle the pay scale issue through negotiations. The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) has suspended its agitation against the revised pay scales till May 26.

Official sources said that the ministry has started the process of consultations on the pay revision matter, keeping in mind the deadlock the issue has created. The next round of consultations has been fixed with state education secretaries, in-charge of higher education, for May 14.

The sources said this would be followed by discussions with the DUTA and representatives of other teachers associations and also with the ministries of finance and personnel.

At the meeting with UGC officials today, Joshi expressed concern over the quality of higher education, particularly the growth of a large number of colleges in states without sufficient resources to maintain the standard of education. He desired that the UGC members submit a brief status position on such colleges which they might have visited during their inspection tours.

It was felt that the UGC’s authority required to be strengthened for monitoring and sustaining the quality and standard of such colleges.This is the first meeting the HRD minister has had on the pay scale issue after the High Court asked the government and the teachers’ unions to find a way out of the impasse through discussions.