A newly planned four-year integrated teacher education program at Calicut University (CU) has found itself at the center of a significant controversy. This arose after Vice-Chancellor (V-C) P. Raveendran unexpectedly canceled a series of walk-in interviews, originally scheduled for September 24th, 25th, and 26th, which were intended to recruit assistant professors for the program.
The V-C’s decision followed a wave of complaints from several applicants and P. Rasheed Ahammed, a Syndicate member affiliated with the Indian Union Muslim League. They explicitly alleged that both the Head of the Department of Education and the Registrar were attempting to unfairly appoint individuals with close ties to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and their relatives. These alleged actions were in direct violation of established guidelines set by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). Furthermore, Mr. Ahammed and other complainants claimed that crucial instructions from the NCTE had been deliberately withheld by university officials for several months. Concerns were also raised about the vague nature of the interview notification, which failed to specify whether the positions were temporary or permanent full-time roles.
Specifically, Mr. Ahammed highlighted that for appointments lasting more than 45 days, strict reservation policies must be observed. He also noted that details regarding positions for candidates with disabilities should have been clearly outlined in the notification. Additionally, applicants were not given the mandatory one-month period, as stipulated by the UGC, to prepare and submit their applications.
However, internal university sources indicated that the initial plan was to make temporary appointments. This approach was intended to ensure that teacher details could be promptly uploaded to the NCTE website before the critical October 4th deadline, a necessary step to maintain the agency’s in-principle approval for running the courses. ‘If permanent teachers were to be appointed, the university would need to go through the lengthy process of staff and salary fixation and secure government approval, which would have taken considerable time,’ the sources explained. In the interim, the Vice-Chancellor has reportedly instructed the Registrar to issue a revised notification for the interviews, though the new dates are still pending.