In a good news, all those who have registered for Ph.D or M.Phil before 2009 will be exempted from appearing for National Eligibility Test (NET) to become eligible for the post of assistant professor at colleges and universities, announced Minister of Human Resource and Development (HRD) Smriti Irani.
The UGC has decided that candidates who have registered for M Phil or PhDs prior to July 11, 2009, will be exempted from clearing NET exam to become eligible for the post of assistant professor if they fulfill certain other conditions. The move would help thousands of PhD holders who had been affected by a UGC guideline that came in 2009 making NET and PhD a minimum eligibility criteria for applying for assistant professor in colleges and universities.
The move will help create a larger talent pool for teaching jobs. Women researchers will get more time to complete their research — an additional year for MPhil and two more for PhD — along with maternity leave benefits, Irani said.
In addition, women candidates will also be provided maternity, child care leave for up to 240 days in the entire duration of their M.Phil or Ph.D degrees.
At present, a student who has a postgraduate degree or an MPhil and has cleared the NET/SET (state-level eligibility test) is eligible for lectureship in a college or university. If the student fails to clear the eligibility test but has an MPhil degree, he or she can teach in a college, but not a university.
If a student does a PhD in accordance with UGC (University Grants Commission) regulations, such as publication of research papers and presentations in seminars/conferences, he or she is eligible for the post of assistant professor in any college or university.
In 2009, the UGC made NET and a PhD the minimum eligibility criteria for the post of assistant professor in colleges and universities.
