NET now Compulsory

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Mungekar Committee revises decision; NET now compulsory
Surbhi Bhatia | TNN



The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced that the National Eligibility Test (NET) would become the basic criterion for the appointment of lecturers in universities and colleges. This decision comes in the wake of the final report submitted by the Bhalchandra Mungekar Committee, which recommended that NET/State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) be made compulsory for the appointment of lecturers.
The committee, in its interim report, had earlier recommended exempting aspiring PhD and MPhil graduates from the NET. But, after observing a fall in the quality of teachers at the university and college level, it decided to change this decision in its final report. The committee was formed in January 2006 by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) to review NET examinations.
Enumerating the reasons for this revision, Bhalchandra Mungekar, member, Planning Commission, and head of the committee, said, “We observed that our previous decision proved counterproductive. The exemption from NET was mooted due to the shortage of faculty in higher education institutes. But we found that immediately after the exemption, there was an influx of poor quality PhD and MPhil-holders applying for the post of lecturers. There was also an increase in the number institutes offering an MPhil online and through distance education mode.’’
The committee, then, decided that there should be no compromise on certain standards to ensure the quality of education. “Hence, we decided to make NET/SLET the basic criterion,’’ said Mungekar.
But, will the NET qualification alone help ensure the quality of teachers? “It cannot be the only parameter to ensure the quality of faculty,’’ said Mungekar. At the same time, he added, that it would help establish the minimum standards. “India is a big country and many institutes offer PhD and MPhil; the standard sometimes is extremely low. So, NET can at least put a check on the standards of MPhil and PhD holders,’’ he said.
However, the teaching community is not convinced. “It is not compulsory that only a NET-qualified person can be a good teacher; teaching is a different ball game altogether. Besides, the success rate in NET is extremely low. So, if it is made mandatory where will universities get teachers from, they ask.
Others say that the move will only create confusion since many subjects, like law, are not covered under NET. Also, with the government planning to set up new central
universities and upgrade existing ones, where would all the NET-qualified faculty come from?
Also, frequent changes create u n c e r t a i n t y among teachers about their jobs.
Experts say the way forward could be to declare a percentile in the NET. There has to be some system to monitor the quality of teachers. So, a national entrance test is important. But, UGC could consider creating a percentile in the NET.
This way, universities could decide on what NET percentile they want to appoint as lecturers.

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