For the first time, college and varsity students will have a say in evaluation of teachers as the Smriti Irani led HRD ministry has decided to bring fundamental changes in the way the performance of those in the teaching profession is assessed.
The process of changing the present criteria of Academic Performance Indicators (API) scores, which relied heavily on co-curricular activities and research in the evaluation of teachers has been initiated and a notification will be issued soon, officials said.
“As per the new norms, students who have an attendance of 75 per cent, will be able to give feedback of their teachers. The predominant weightage in evaluating teachers has been given to their teaching, learning and evaluating capacity,” a senior HRD ministry official said.
Explaining the reason for bringing this change, the official said that under the previous criteria of API scores, a 30 per cent weightage was given to co-curricular activities and another 30 per cent to research.
Many teachers’ bodies have agitated against the API system which was introduced in 2010 as it was often perceived to be not fair. “The result of making research an essential component on the basis of which a teacher would be assessed and promoted, was that a lot of substandard in not very significant journals took place. Moreover teachers who focused more on teaching than say on extracurricular activities like refereeing a basketball match sometimes found themselves at a disadvantage," another HRD official said.
In several colleges, including many in rural areas, the adequate support for research is not there, officials said.
Activities like presentation of paper on various subjects will also be given weightage. “The main focus of the changes that we are bringing in this criteria is that a teacher’s performance should be linked with - how well does he teach,” a senior HRD official said.
Official sources said that a committee formed under the chairmanship of former UGC chairman Prof Arun Nigvekar had been constituted by the HRD ministry last year to evaluate the API regarding the entry point and career advancement of teachers and these changes were made based on its recommendations.
"The UGC has approved the proposed changes in the API mechanism and they will come into effect in a day or two when the notification is issued," officials said. last week, while speaking in a debate on the functioning of her ministry in the Rajya Sabha, HRD minister Smriti Irani had indicated that her ministry would soon change the API score criteria.
"A teacher's promotion needs to depend on the promotion of his class, that is, when a teacher totally dedicates himself only to the education of the student, does not get involved in extracurricular activity that teacher, in no way, should be penalized," Irani had said in her speech.
Officials said that under the new norms, steps would be taken to ensure that high quality research published in journals of repute is rewarded. They added that research in regional languages too will be included in the criteria.
Official sources said that a committee formed under the chairmanship of former UGC chairman Prof Arun Nigvekar had been constituted by the HRD ministry last year to evaluate the API regarding the entry point and career advancement of teachers and these changes were made based on its recommendations.