On Foregrounding the Backdrops

Exemption from NET for Computer Science postgrads

The computer science postgraduates have been exempted by the University of Calicut from clearing the National Eligibility Test (NET) the criterion fixed as mandatory by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to be selected for appointed as associate professors in Colleges/ universities in India. The news could be heartening to many Computer Science graduates who have not cleared the NET in the subject as it gives them an opportunity to bypass the norm legally. It would be accepted by all parties who have an interest in the field of higher education that the introduction of a screening test by UGC in  1989  to determine the eligibility of lecturers has lent a great amount of credibility to the college  /  university education and has ensured that a certain degree of quality is guaranteed among those who take up the vocation. Ever since the said norm came to practice, the old scenario of anyone with a second class Masters degree rushing to college teaching (through the front or the rear door whatever) has been done away with. Now the phantoms of the bygone era seem to be getting ready to raise its not so scholarly head!

True, exemptions are an old, easy way of getting in to the positions provided you know the intricate by lanes of beurocracy and the swing of the political pendulum. Even in the past, a number of people have got into the lucrative world of UGC pay and perks in the name of apparent shortage of qualified hands in the subject. Even way back in very early 90s , there were cases of ‘interested’ teachers impressing up on the higher ups about the so-called’ paucity of qualified hands in subjects like Home Science and then bag the exemption order in the process virtually shutting the doors on the qualified hands. The recent order regarding the Computer Science Postgraduates is again made on account of the shortage of qualified graduates making it to the NET qualifiers list.

It would be interesting to look into this phenomenon of NET being impossibly difficult to get through only in certain subjects, in this case namely, for the computer science postgraduates. Why does it happen only in computer science?  Is it a reflection of the inherent difficulty of the subject? Or could it also be a case of insufficient competence of the candidates taking the test? In either case, when the required / desired numbers of candidates fail to make the cut, is an exemption from the test the quick solution? The author is not oblivious of the fact that the exemption under discussion is only for a period of two years. But what if the candidate still is unable to clear the NET examination even after a the two years grace period? Will he / she be sacked or will the exemption be extended? Or will the exemption gain a life time validity?

These are important questions because actions of the kind will quicken the erosion of values in the much appreciated move to introduce NET for entry into college level teaching by UGC in 1989. The significance of these questions should be read against the background cases like in Mahrashtra where the Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (MFUCTO) was approaching the Bombay High Court against the University Grants Commission (UGC) move to cancel the exemption of 1,269 college teachers teaching in colleges affiliated to the University of Pune (UoP) from NET/SET. This is a case in which the exemption was cancelled by Human Resource ministry and it was questioned. Will Kerala too go the Pune way two years down the lane?

If the inordinate difficulty is the reason for the lack of qualified NET hands in Computer Science, then the issue should be looked into in serious details. It should have been brought to the attention of the higher ups in higher education earlier and the remedy would lie far way from seeking exemption from the test.   A test, any test for that matter, has to be designed taking into consideration of the general competencies involved in those who take the test. This is not to state that if the competence of the test- taker is low, then the test benchmarks should be lowered to spoil the very aim of the test. Though there is a common minimal competency expected, efforts should be on to check periodically whether the tests are able to connect with the potential test-takers.  I know one teacher who took the computer science NET 27 times and got through in the final attempt! Is it a case of the power of insistence and resilience or being plain lucky ?

We also have to factor in the reality that the prime destination of a Computer Science (post)graduates have never been teaching till very recently. It has been like a professional passport which assured the graduates  /  postgraduates numerous careers in IT and It enabled services. The reason which drove many into teaching vary from the rigours of the workplace demands in the highly competitive Cyber market to the lack of employability skills. In the early years when the cream of the graduates and postgraduates has been absorbed by the IT industry, only the fringe strolled into the world of academics. Obviously, unlike in other disciplines, the average level of competence could be a couple of notches lower. The presence of a slim percentage of computer science graduates who made it to academics out of pure passion for the area does not deny the presence of the other category mentioned above.

There were years during which only a couple of English postgraduates made it to the NET qualifiers list from the state. I haven’t come across any instance of this prompting an ‘Exempt NET from English’ campaign by the English Literature postgraduates, even during the stages when sometimes just one or two candidates were able to clear the test from the whole state of Kerala. In the case of computer science one of the two of the following premises should be right: either the NET exam for the subject is extremely difficult or the applicants who take the test in the subject are way below in terms of competence or drive. The premises are provocative though. Neither of the two seems to be true since some candidates have qualified the test in computer science so far. Then where does the rub lie?