Paper checking hours of profs reduced from 12 hours to 7, then changed back to 12 again
MU is dependent on contractual staff members in the absence of full-time appointments. File pic
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Students of Mumbai University should brace themselves for late results this year around as well, thanks to the varsity’s dependence on contractual staff. The Centralised Assessment Process (CAP) that is used for evaluation of answer sheets, which should be conducted for 12 hours a day was reduced to just 7 hours. However, MU claims they are going to restore the previous timings.
As the term-end examinations have begun, the assessment process has also started simultaneously at MU’s CAP centres since last week. Professors reaching the Kalina campus for their assessment duties were made to wait until 10 am for the centres to open and were asked to leave by 6 pm.
Staff timings
This was being done because the varsity staff that looks after the administrative arrangements for the assessment has these work timings. Most of these people are temporary employees of MU, which is dependant on contractual staff members in the absence of full-time appointments. The risks in having to depend on such employees have been pointed out, especially after the paper leak and other issues, but little has changed. The professors are given a minimum of 300 papers to assess and return within two to three days.
“This is bizarre. We teachers also have responsibilities at respective colleges. Everybody completes the given target, but with this shoddy arrangement, a teacher who could finish his assessment target in four days will have to continue working for eight days. This in turn, will delay the results,” said a political science professor. While city-based professors can extend their days, it is not an option for professors from outside the city. One such professor from Ratnagiri, said, “Earlier with 12 hours a day, one could complete the target of papers in couple of days. But now, we feel like we are wasting our time because we will have to extend the days or come back later to complete the given target.”
Nothing profs can do
On-duty professors were initially confused about the timings, “There is nothing else we can do in this case other than pointing it out to the authorities. They need to ensure the staff at the CAP centre does not include contractual workers. They would obviously not be interested in giving extra time for assessment when they are not paid adequately for their regular work hours,” said a Chemistry professor.
Varsity says
Deepak Vasave, controller of examination said, “We have sorted the issues with the staff, especially their over-time payment process. It will now run as per the scheduled time. Due to lack of permanent staff, we have to share the work load with staff on contract. But now their over time payments have been approved.”
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