Eligibility test must for lecturers: HC

Chennai: In a significant ruling that could affect lecturer aspirants across the country, the Madras high court on Monday held that a pass in the National Eligibility Test (NET) or the State-Level Eligibility Test (SLET) will continue to be the mandatory qualification to apply for assistant professor posts in colleges.


The first bench comprising Chief Justice M Yusuf Eqbal and Justice TS Sivagnanam, dismissing a batch of writ petitions and appeals filed by candidates with only MPhil qualification who have been seeking either exemption or sufficient time to clear NET/SLET, said: “The regulation and the decision of the central government (insisting on the NET/ SLET) cannot, at any stretch of imagination, be held to be illegal, arbitrary or whimsical. The decision is rational and based on public interest and also national policy to upgrade the standard of education in the country.”
The writ appeals were filed after a single judge dismissed the petitions against the central policy on April 22.
The petitioners had sought to restrain the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Teachers’ Recruitment Board (TRB) from insisting on NET/SLET qualification for candidates who have passed MPhil prior to 1993 for appointment as assistant professors in Tamil Nadu Collegiate Educational Service. Noting that the UGC’s regulations notified in July 2009 did not exempt candidates who had obtained their MPhil degrees prior to December 31, 1993, the petitioners also wanted the regulations to be quashed. Opposing the petitions, additional solicitor general of South India M Ravindran and senior central government standing counsel P Chandrasekaran, representing the Centre, submitted that there were more than 12,000 NETqualified candidates waiting for employment. If the requests of the petitioners are accepted, it would mean compromising on quality of education and teaching standard in colleges.
P Wilson, additional advocate-general of Tamil Nadu, representing the TRB, said that if the state did not follow the UGC regulations the Centre would not extend grants. Referring to the UGC’s recent decision to exempt the candidates who obtained an MPhil degree on or before July 10, 2009 from clearing NET, he said such attempts have not been approved by the Centre.