The Utkal University Teachers' Association (UUTA) has opposed the Odisha University (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 saying it is misleading and detrimental to the prospects of higher education in the State.
The general body of the UUTA met online on Monday and discussed the contents of an ordinance published in the Odisha Gazette on September 4, 2020.
As many as 72 faculty members of the Utkal University participated in the meeting unanimously considered the ordinance as misleading and detrimental to the prospects of higher education in the State.Appreciating appraisals of the teachers' associations of the Ravenshaw University, Berhampur University, Sambalpur University and other universities, the UUTA resolved that a joint action committee (JAC) would be formed to take this issue forward with the policy makers at both the State and the national level and would make every effort to uphold the autonomy of the university system in the State.
The new ordinance has clearly made attempts to reduce the space for functional autonomy of the universities by shifting the responsibility of the recruitment of teachers to the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) and non-teaching staff to the State Selection Board.
Again, the Senate system of accountability and transparency has been abolished in the new ordinance. In a dangerous attempt to undermine the benefits of the unitary university systems like the Ravenshaw University, the ordinance has repealed the Ravenshaw University Act. The UUTA members feel that such a move by the Government is undemocratic and is an unwarranted disruption of the systems that have been serving the higher education in the State for several decades.
It welcomed the changes such as increasing the tenure of the Vice-Chancellors from three to four years and enhancing their age limit from 65 to 67 years but said these seem meaningless when the overall age of superannuation of teachers has not been increased.
It too opposed the proposed bureaucratic control over the appointment of the VCs. The UUTA appealed to the Government to repeal the new ordinance and sought for reconciling the earlier Act with the UGC guidelines for recruitment of teachers and officers of the universities.