DUTA holds protest demanding regularisation of ad-hoc teachers

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) took to the streets on Wednesday over its demand for immediate absorption of over 4,500 ad-hoc teachers in the varsity and its colleges.

The march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar that was stopped by police saw teachers raising slogans against the government policies of privatisation, implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and also drew attention to the plight of the ad-hoc teachers.

"The DUTA submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Education to demand a one-time regulation for the absorption of ad-hoc and temporary teachers in keeping with the reservation policy against all sanctioned vacancies," DUTA president Rajib Ray said in a statement.

It alleged that the recruitment in Delhi University had not happened for "over a decade", except sporadically, resulting in young teachers being forced into situations of extreme vulnerability with no benefits like their permanent colleagues.

The DUTA said while the government was going ahead with the implementation of the NEP at breakneck speed, teachers feared it would exacerbate the precarious situation of ad-hoc teachers.

The teachers' body cited various cases of regularisation of employees mandated by court orders to push for what they call is a "just demand" and subsequently end the ordeal of thousands of teachers at the receiving end of various policies that supposedly aimed to restructure higher education.

The NEP, approved by the Union cabinet last year, replaces the National Policy on Education framed in 1986. The new policy is aimed at paving the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems to make India a global knowledge superpower.