The union has also demanded that the TU authority guarantee salaries for the contract lecturers and course contract lecturers who have not been paid for six months. [break]
The union chairman Bashudev Ghimire said that the TU has not provided salaries to 1,840 contract teachers for a long time. Total 1,380 contract lecturers and 460 course contract lecturers are working in the TU and its constituent colleges since 2006.
He added that the TU´s top brass have failed to address the various problems faced by the professors.
“The present TU officials, who are aligned to communist ideology, have tried to narrow the roles of democrats in the university. It is condemnable,” said Dharma Raj Koirala, vice-chairperson of the professors´ union.
The union had given deadline to address the demands till Friday, but the indifference of TU officials forced them to protest, he added.
The professors have started protest at the TU premises and the Kathmandu Valley-based constituent colleges from Sunday and have threatened to padlock the TU administrative offices and boycott exams if their demands were not fulfilled.
The union has also blamed the TU authority of allowing private colleges affiliated with the university to conduct courses on technical subjects.
“The TU authority should focus on improving the quality of education in its constituent colleges rather than promoting private colleges,” Koirala added.
However, the TU VC Maharjan said that the University Grant Commission (UGC) has delayed to allocate the budget for the salaries of contract teachers.
“The UGC was to send the amount in November, but we have not received it till date,” said Maharjan.
He claimed that the democratic professors announced the protest programs despite his attempts to hold talks with them.
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