MANGALORE Nov 21: The Department of Collegiate education finalised the redeployment of 51 pre-university teachers in the Mangalore region at a counselling programme organised here on Friday. redeploy

Thirteen of the teachers were re-accommodated in the degree sections of the same college while the rest were deployed to different government and government-aided colleges in the region.

These teachers, all of whom are qualified to teach degree students, were deputed to teach pre-university students when degree and PU colleges were bifurcated in 2001.

This was done because there was a shortage of staff in PU colleges and excess staff in degree colleges after the bifurcation.

‘Unfair system’

Commissioner of Collegiate Education Nagambika Devi, who presided over the programme, said that the system that was in place for all these years was unfair to both teachers as well as the Government, as they were being paid salaries as per the UGC scale.

Complaints

However, all did not go off smoothly at the event. Some teachers complained that they were deployed to different colleges after being assigned to one college during the counselling.

Some teachers, such as Vasanthi Bhat from Udupi, complained that after the redeployment, she would be teaching in two colleges simultaneously. She explained that according to the rules laid down by the Government when colleges were bifurcated, managements of aided colleges were supposed to fill vacancies in degree colleges with only those degree-level teachers who were working in PU colleges. However, the management of the Academy of General Education, Manipal, where she is employed, had gone on to recruit fresh people without considering her case.

“Because of this, I have lost my seniority and am made to work in two colleges to discharge my workload,” she said.

Teachers from Cauvery College in Gonikoppal, Madikeri, also had similar complaints.

Reacting to the issue, Ms. Devi said that Ms. Bhat could represent her case before the department. As for Cauvery College she said, “They have recruited fresh people under the management quota. We cannot stop them from doing that.”

Hindu