Pampered college teachers moonlighting in pvt institutes

Flouting Dispur’s stern order, over 60% teachers of nearly 150 government and provincialized colleges in the State still unethically working in private educatiol institutions

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 16: Despite the Assam government’s strict instruction to college teachers to stop rendering services in private institutions, many of them are flouting the order brazenly by holding different posts in such institutions purely for love of lucre.  

Sources told The Sentinel on Sunday that even though the State government had issued an official memorandum in January asking teachers to immediately stop offering services in private institutions, over 60 percent teachers have not paid any heed to the order. The development can be mainly attributed to the government’s failure to put in a place a strong and effective mechanism to catch such moonlighting teachers.  

On January 16, the department of Higher Education came out with an official memorandum stating that the practice of engagement of some college teachers as well as principals in private educatiol and non-educatiol institutions, either on voluntary or paid basis, had created conflict of interest.

Part-time engagement of these teachers with other agencies has also adversely affected the academic environment of government and provincialised colleges, where they are not able to devote themselves fully and dedicatedly to the primary task of teaching, the memorandum said.

The memorandum categorically stated that the teachers or principals who are currently on the panel of private educatiol institutions or non-educatiol institutions must resign from such post or engagements within 30 days of the memorandum. Non-adherence to the instruction will invite strict discipliry and punitive action against erring teachers, the memo had warned.

Assam has 300-plus government and provincialised colleges. Sources said teachers of nearly 150 such colleges are also unethically working in private institutions. Teachers of even some leading colleges in Guwahati are involved in promoting private institutions, sources have pointed out.

An Education department official, while admitting that all college teachers are not following the government’s instruction, said that about 40 percent of them have quit private institutions. He said it would take some time to bring back all teachers and make them concentrate on quality teaching in government and provincialised colleges.   

“Some teachers have claimed they are holding ‘honorary advisory positions’ in private institutions. The Education department is considering as to whether government or provincialised college teachers can have advisory roles in such institutions,” the official said.