By Edu LegaL News, New Delhi Bureau

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has now clarified that the potential teachers deemed to be promoted under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) would not need to worry about their leaves as those would not be considered for their promotion purposes.

In a recent notice issued by the higher education regulator, the UGC said that for calculating API scores, different kinds of leaves would not be considered and the teachers will be assessed only for their performance on the non-leave period. The notice was issued by the UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain.

In the notice, the UGC said, “For the purpose of calculating API score, all such periods of duration which have been spent by the teacher on different kinds of paid leaves such as Maternity Leave, Child Care Leave, Study Leave, Medical Leave, Extraordinary Leave and Deputation shall be excluded from the grading assessment.”

It also said, “The teacher shall be assessed for the remaining period of duration of the assessment period and the same shall be extrapolated for the entire period of assessment to arrive at the grading of the teacher.”

According to the UGC, the teacher who undergo for such leaves or deputation will not be put to any disadvantage for promotion under CAS due to their absence from their teaching responsibility. The only condition levied by the UGC is that such leave/deputation would have to be undertaken with the prior approval of the competent authority following all procedure laid down in UGC Regulations and as per the Acts, Statutes and Ordinances of the parent Institution.

The Commission said that to discuss the issue which was raised by many, UGC held a meeting on the issue on August 2 and after wider consultations reached to the conclusion to relax the possible advserse impact of leaves on the API score of the teachers desirous to be promoted as per the laws of the UGC.

The UGC said that the relaxations as mandated in the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations 2018 should also be given for API score calculation of teachers governed by the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2010.

EduLegaL View:

Leave is a matter of right of an employee and hence putting any kind of disadvantage to the employee for availing leave was obviously affecting the ‘right to livelihood’ of an employee, which has been declared to be a fundamental right by Supreme Court.

Nowadays Corporates have come up with very liberal policies for leave granting and availing of employees. Therefore, Education Sector cannot run in isolation and put a teacher to disadvantage for securing leave, which are prescribed under the Rules and Regulations.

Obviously and rightly so, the leave has to be sanctioned and authorised one, to bring sanctity to this process.

Ravi Bhardwaj | ravibhardwaj@gmail.com | mail@edulegal.in | www.edulegal.org

||EduLegaL View:

he University Grants Commission (UGC) has now clarified that the potential teachers deemed to be promoted under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) would not need to worry about their leaves as those would not be considered for their promotion purposes.