Chennai: A govt order issued by the higher education department caused concern among teacher aspirants, as it said that part-time PhDs were not eligible for recruitment as assistant professors in govt colleges.The Teachers Recruitment Board is in the process of filling 2,708 vacancies in govt colleges. In the first phase, the board released the results for five subjects, including history education, human rights, Indian culture and tourism, marine biology, and wildlife, last week.A govt order by the higher education department for the selection of assistant professors on March 13 mentioned that aspirants should obtain their PhD in regular mode.But aspirants said University Grants Commission (UGC) treats full-time and part-time PhDs as degrees awarded through regular mode if they were in conformity with the existing statutes or by-laws of the degree-awarding university. K Pandiyan, former state president of Association of University Teachers (AUT), also said UGC clarified in a public notice in 2017 that both part-time and full-time PhDs were eligible.Sources from the govt said the order will be revised, making aspirants with part-time PhDs also eligible for the assistant professor posts. They said that among the shortlisted candidates, none of them got part-time PhDs.The higher education department added that aspirants could not claim seniority from the date of joining, as the present recruitment will fill the vacancies in a phased manner. “Seniority should be fixed after the remaining vacancies are filled. The directorate of collegiate education should prepare a separate inter-se seniority for all 2,708 assistant professors,” the order said.
