University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is not mandatory for recruitment to the posts of Assistant Professors in central universities. Speaking at the inauguration of the newly constructed UGC-HRDC building on the Osmania University (OU) campus, Kumar added that a qualification in the Commission’s National Eligibility Test (NET) would be sufficient for it, reported Telangana Today.

The decision is being taken so that professionals who do not have PhDs can be appointed as assistant professors across universities in India. Additionally, the move also aims to provide opportunities to experts who want to teach in universities but can’t as they do not have a PhD degree.

M Jagadesh Kumar said that a one nation-one data portal is being developed, which will offer all UGC guidelines and other important details to candidates. Kumar further stated that quality education will be extended directly to students via the National Digital University from the next academic year.

The Central government had earlier amended the Commission’s regulations that made PhD the minimum eligibility criteria for hiring assistant professors. The new guidelines were to come into effect in 2021 but got postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Media reports suggest that it later got extended till July 2023. But in the meantime, hiring continued on the basis of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) score.

Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has begun the registration process for the Joint CSIR-UGC NET Examination in December-2022 and June-2023. Candidates can apply on the official website at csirnet.nta.nic.in. As per the schedule, the application process will remain active till April 10 up to 5 pm. While the last date to fill application form with a late fee is April 10 up to 11:50 pm. The exam for the same will be held on June 6, 7 and 8.

The exam is conducted to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), lectureship (LS), and assistant professor across universities in India.

The exam is conducted for papers that include chemical sciences, earth, atmospheric, ocean, and planetary sciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences, and physical sciences. The medium of the exam will be English and Hindi.

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