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Chandigarh: Teachers
in Panjab University (PU) will soon get some lessons from students
with a new teacher feedback system.
After much deliberation, the senate, the university's highest
decision-making body, has approved the mechanism, which will judge
teachers on various parameters, including communication ability,
response to queries, informal behaviour and punctuality.
Drafted to act as a self-improvement tool for faculty of one of
the oldest institutions of the country, the exercise will be made
compulsory for all departments, while over 185 affiliated colleges
can willingly opt for it.
"This feedback mechanism will help the quality of teaching and
bring positive results. In PU, it will be compulsory, whereas it
has been left to the colleges to decide if they want to go for
this system or not," Vice Chancellor Arun Grover told IANS.
"I feel it (the system) should definitely be adopted by colleges
which intend to grow and have the potential of competing at
national and international levels," he said.
However, the feedback system is not an evaluation of teachers. It
is being projected strictly as a student-teacher affair and has
been okayed with riders not to the liking of student unions.
Only students fulfilling the condition of minimum 75 percent of
attendance and with no re-appear cases in an opted subject are
eligible to access the system.
Information on the system and its outcome will be made available
on the university website and notice boards across the campus.
The system has however evoked mixed reactions among students.
"It is an appreciable effort. Students will feel a part of the set
up as their feedback will reach teachers. Not only this, even
teachers, equipped with valuable feedback, will get an opportunity
of improve themselves," said law student Chirag Sood.
But Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC), an elected
student body, has given a thumbs down, saying the system is an
"eyewash".
"The system is not foolproof. There is no involvement of a third
party. It has been planned and will be executed by the university
authorities only. There is no provision of any action against
teachers with negative feedback. This will not lead anywhere and
nothing substantial will come out," PUCSC president Satinder Singh
told IANS.
Over 13,000 students, majority of them women, study at the
university established in Lahore (now in Pakistan) in 1882.
The university campus moved to Chandigarh in 1956.
Among its distinguished alumni are Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and Nobel laureate biochemist Har Gobind Khorana.
(Ritika Sharma could be contacted at ritikasharma2487@gmail.com)
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