PhD not mandatory for recruitment as assistant professors till June 2023: UGC

In relief to many, candidates will not be required to have a Ph.D. as a mandatory qualification for recruitment to Assistant Professor posts for the time being. The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday (October 12) postponed the mandatory requirement of Ph.D. for candidates to apply for Assistant Professors till July 2023, ANI reported. 

In 2018, the UGC had stipulated that Ph.D. shall be mandatory for direct recruitment from July 2021. However, candidates from across the country appealed to the government to put the implementation of the rule on hold due to difficulties in completing their PhDs due to the prevailing circumstances.

On Tuesday, the UGC issued a circular saying it has decided to extend the date of applicability of Ph.D. as mandatory qualification from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2023. A gazette notification has also been issued in this regard.

This amendment will be known as 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), Amendment Regulation, 2021, the Commission said. 

“This amendment has been published in Part – III, Section- 4 of Gazette of India (Extraordinary) each in Hindi and English which can be downloaded from the official websites,” the statement further read. 

“The ministry has put a temporary hold on Ph.D. for assistant professor recruitment and Ph.D. would not be mandatory for this post as of now but has not been canceled,” Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said.

Candidates possessing postgraduate degrees, who have cleared the National Eligibility Test, will continue to remain eligible for recruitments to the assistant professor posts.

In 2018, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had modified the criteria for recruitments for entry-level posts at universities and colleges. It had given a three-year window to candidates to complete their PhDs and asked all universities and colleges to start applying the criteria for recruitment from the 2021-22 academic session.