look news india
Mumbai: From this month, the salaries of Mumbai University professors will be linked to their biometric attendance data and will take into account their scheduled working hours. The university has issued a circular in this regard and said that as stated in the Seventh Pay Commission, the weekly workload of teachers is 40 hours and 16 hours are for teaching.
Mumbai University has been taking biometric attendance for some time now. But the new circular is a shock to many teachers as it states that only attendance till September 2024 was counted. But working hours were not considered. But from October, professors will have to fulfill the required hours specified in the 7th Pay Commission.
Reiterating the definition of workload, the September 26 circular signed by University Registrar Dr Prasad Karande states that the workload of teachers in full employment in an academic year should not exceed 40 hours per week for 30 working weeks (180 teaching days). Should not be less. A teacher is required to be available in the university for at least five hours every day. However, professors who are busy in extension activities and administrative work have been given relaxation of 2 hours in their workload. A minimum of 6 hours per week can be allotted for teachers' research activities. Out of 40 hours, Assistant Professors have to teach for 16 hours and Associate Professors and Professors have to teach for 14 hours.
Although teachers say the manpower is low, there is also a wide variation in the teacher-student ratio. Therefore teachers are already working more than the scheduled time. In such a situation, issuing such a circular by a university is nothing more than ridiculous. Officials of the Bombay University and College Teachers Union (BUCTU) say the administration is trying to spread fear by issuing the circular without understanding the constraints faced by teachers. But they should try to solve the problems of teachers.