5-year fixed-pay service to count as teaching experience: Govt tells universities in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat govt has directed all state-run universities to recognise the five-year fixed-pay service rendered by assistant professors in grant-in-aid colleges as valid academic experience for direct recruitment to the posts of associate professor and professor.The directive follows a clarification issued by the state education department on Feb 16, 2024, during the recruitment process at Saurashtra University. In its communication, the department stated that the five-year tenure served as an assistant professor on a fixed-salary basis must be counted as teaching and academic experience while assessing eligibility for higher academic positions.
Recruitment processes for academic and non-academic posts are currently under way in several institutions, including Gujarat University and other govt universities. Saurashtra University recently initiated direct recruitment for associate professor and professor posts, bringing renewed focus to the long-pending issue.Until now, many universities did not consider the five-year fixed-pay service as qualifying experience, prompting repeated representations from faculty associations. Academic bodies had argued that excluding this period created injustice for several eligible candidates and stalled their career progression despite substantial teaching contributions during those years.To ensure uniformity and maintain parity across institutions under its jurisdiction, the education department decided to extend its Feb 16, 2024 clarification to all govt universities in the state. Universities have been instructed to implement the directive in ongoing and future recruitment processes.The move is expected to benefit a large number of assistant professors by formally recognising their fixed-pay tenure as valid academic experience for career advancement to senior academic positions.