Former Minister besieged by teachers’ complaints

Former Minister besieged by teachers’ complaints

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, May 16, 2015 : The former Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education B.K. Chandrashekar was greeted with college teachers’ complaints over irregular salary disbursement and their opposition to the increase in teaching hours from 16 hours a week to 22 hours a week, when he visited the University College here on Friday.

In an interaction, teachers opposed a proposal to withdraw all language subjects to students of second year Bachelor of Commerce.

Teachers in Higher Education apprised the former Minister, who was formerly a professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, on the need to take up their issues with the government.

When the former Minister visited the college, teachers from various colleges, who were evaluating answer scripts of degree examinations, took a break during the lunch hour and met him.

Hayavadana Upadhya, former president of Association of Mangalore University College Teachers, who spoke on behalf of the teachers, told the former Minister that if the government increased the teaching hours by six hours a week it would burden many teachers and affect the quality of teaching.

If the proposal was implemented, many teachers, especially in government-aided colleges, would have to lose their jobs for lack of workload.

He said that the government had withdrawn language subjects to students of second year BBM and BCA courses. Now it has proposed to withdraw the subjects to second year B.Com. students.

Mr. Upadhya said that if the language subjects to second year B.Com. were also withdrawn more teachers would lose their jobs.

The teachers alleged that Minister for Higher Education R.V. Deshpande and senior officials of Department of Higher Education were not interested in listening to them.

Mr. Chandrashekar promised them that he would take up the issues with the government.

Mr. Chandrashekar said that if the government had a proposal to introduce common syllabi to undergraduate courses across universities it was not a viable proposal.

Teachers in government-aided private colleges under Mangalore University are yet to get last month’s salary.

 

Courtesy : The Hindu