Jalandhar: Amid teachers’ strike, GNDU says no to online exams this Semester
The students of 34 colleges in the district were expecting Guru Nanak Dev University’s final decision on the announcement of the semester schedule amid ongoing teachers strike. However, the announcement was not made until this evening. The situation is a mess for students at 34 colleges in the district. The practical papers that would precede the theory examination were supposed to start on December 14.
However, varsity officials made it clear that there would not be an online exam as announced by Panjab University and IK Gujral Punjab Technical University. Prof Manoj Kumar, GNDU Controller of Examinations, said that online exams are not an option since we have been holding offline classes since August 16. We are going to issue a new datesheet in 10 days, taking into account the current situation. Conducting examinations offline requires participation of teachers. It is possible for delays to occur when teachers are on strike.
Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting was attended by college teachers who had declared a nationwide education boycott for the past week. They were hoping to get some sort of outcome regarding their demands for the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission from the UGC. “We expected some sort of outcome at Chandigarh’s Cabinet meeting yesterday, but nothing was said about the protests in colleges of the state,” stated the principal of an aided college. He added that the teachers have met Pargat Singh, the new Higher Education Minister, several times with their demands but to no avail. Another principal said that while they have the funds to announce tens or thousands of crores for each project, there is nothing for the nation-builders.
Prof Manoj also concerns about UGC guidelines that regular classes should be held for 90 days under the semester system. “If teaching is suspended for longer days, the legitimacy and validity of the course may be revoked/challenged.” Prof Manoj also described the teachers strike as a legitimate move. They have waited for years for the government’s 7th pay commission pay grades to be implemented. He said that their demands must be considered seriously if higher education in the state is to improve.
On Friday, more than 200 teachers from different colleges in Jalandhar district gathered along Lyallpur Khalsa college to protest the anti-educational policies of the state government.
Dr SS Bains, District General Secretary of Union, stated that the process of delinking teachers’ pay from the UGC scales would severely impact higher education in the state, leading to a lack of financial resources at colleges and universities in Punjab.
The President of GNDU-affiliated, non-governmental colleges Principal Association and Principal Lyallpur Khalsa College, Dr. Gurpinder Singh Samra addressed the crowd and asked for the government’s attention to teachers. He appealed to them to implement the 7th Pay Panel recommendations as well as to reverse the state government’s decision to delink with UGC pay scales.
This would help to save higher education. Dr. Sukhdev Randhawa, General Secretary of the State PCCTU, stated that the education boycott would continue until a favorable action is taken by the government.
