Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

UGC and teachers

Sir, — The article `An ill-thought agitation' by Harsh Sethi (Sept. 24): he seems to know that increasing the teaching hours per week to 22 was not part of the pay package, yet he makes out that it must be so for ``it is believed.'' The thoughtful posture he assumes regarding what ails the teachers' unions does not extend to asking the basic academic question: why 22 hours and, for that matter, why not 30 or even more? Determination of teaching hours should be on academic grounds and not on considerations of pay. Instead of giving credit to teachers for their refusal to barter education for pay, Mr. Sethi buttresses the UGC's untruths.

He makes out that teachers have got a substantial pay hike, following the Fifth Pay Commission, forgetting that the teachers got the worst deal in comparison to all other employees. It is the comparative downgrading of the teaching profession in terms of service conditions and basic infrastructure requirements that has made it unattractive for talent. The objective need is to remedy governmental priority.

Shaswati Mazumdar,
New Delhi

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