Politics keeps lecturers occupied

new delhi: students who? teacher-raj is the operative word in delhi university. involved in umpteen tug-of-wars with various groups, the varsity is their political classroom. the image of a teacher confined to academics has been shredded by their newfound political avatar. to the extent that even a critical debate like absenteeism of teachers is being dragged on, with some even supporting the truants.the crucial question is whether teachers elected to the du academic council actually work in the interest of students. "talk of appointment of teachers, principals, revision of courses... all academic matters get coloured in a political light," said an academic council member. the role: the four delhi university teachers' associations are all politically affiliated. while the national democratic teachers' front is affiliated to the bjp, the democratic teachers' front has a leftist leaning. the indian national teachers' congress and the academics for action and development have ties with the congress. student issues invariably get stumped, despite the fact that several independent candidates also make it to the council. "no group fields more than four to five candidates for the 26 elected seats in the ac," duta president and aad chairman s.s. rathi said. the rest of the seats are cornered by independent candidates. the consequences: poor quality of teaching is one of the most obvious outcomes. "the group in power influencing appointment of teachers is common," said ndtf member manoj sinha. dtf vice-president vijendra sharma agreed. "even meritorious candidates require help from these groups," he said. take the instance of an east delhi college. it was alleged that the principal favoured the induction of teachers owing allegiance to a particular group. the issue of the principal's suspension developed into a full-scale war. similar were the cases of two other principals who were accused of financial irregularities. some groups even supported them. the machinations come into play even in the appointment of principals. "there was a disagreement between the university nominees and other governing body members over the principals' appointment," said a teacher representative in a governing body. the two nominees allegedly preferred teachers with a certain ideological orientation. the posts were re-advertised in two of the colleges. it's a telling fact that varsity officials refused to comment on the issue of teachers' politics, terming it 'sensitive'. admitting helplessness in the face of policy towards teaching and non-teaching staff, officials seemed at a loss for words. but the direct impact of politics is felt when classrooms go empty due to strikes. last year's marathon strike lasted 45 days. recently, the teachers threatened to boycott examinations to press their demand to implement a promotional scheme. "it is self-interest versus student interest which now reflects on the perception of teachers," said du registrar k k panda. the teachers, on the other hand, blame their higher-ups. "according to rules, the academic council meeting should be held every month, but in the past 14 months, only three regular meetings have been held," said rekha dayal, an aad member. "how do we raise issues if meetings are not held?" she asked. however, there have been occasions where groups have been divided, ostensibly over student interest issues. take the instance of bit/bis courses. the academic council in its meeting held in october decided to downgrade the four-year courses. there were groups which opposed as well as supported the decision. "this, despite the fact that the courses were being recognised in student interest," a teacher said. interestingly, there have been instances where upgradation of courses have suffered due to ideological differences. another conflict began brewing with talks of revising the history course, with some teachers claiming that it was a bid to 'saffronise' the curriculum. "by and large, teachers have not done enough to alleviate the suffering of students, especially in terms of accountability," said sharma. teaching is also about inspiration and acting as a role model, he added. but is there a way out? "what the teachers can do is participate actively in the university-industry interaction cells. this will not only encourage research, but also increase academic involvement," panda said.