PATNA, April 14 -- The Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar (FUTAB) has written to the Lok Bhawan, questioning the interpretation of UGC guidelines by officer in special duty (OSD, judicial) on the workload of teachers. The FUTAB letter follows a directive from Bihar Lok Bhawan, emphasising strict adherence to teacher workload of a minimum of five hours per day and 40 hours per week and mechanism for attendance monitoring to improve academic standards in varsities and colleges. In a letter addressed to the V-Cs, the chancellor's secretariat said the V-Cs must ensure adherence to mandated workload by teachers, as per the 'statute for teaching days and assessment of workload' promulgated by the chancellor on 29 June 2005. Responding to it, FUTAB has written that the interpretation of the hours clause of the UGC was different from the way the Lok Bhawan's OSD-J has interpreted. "While you interpret it to be mandatory requirement to engage five period per day, UGC means a minimum of five-hour stay in the college/university and has separately mentioned direct teaching hours," he added. FUTAB working president KB Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh, MLC, stated that after detailed deliberations, UGC maintained the same stand in all its recommendations and regulations 2009 onwards, clearly outlining 40 hours/ week of total workload and 16 hours/week of direct teaching hours for assistant professors and 14 hours for associate professors. As per the UGC guidelines, they said, "Teachers must be available for five hours on the campus, for which necessary space and infrastructure shall be available". "It stipulates 180 working days in an academic year, with provision that a reduction of two hours/week can be given to professors for research etc. The 40-hr/week workload also includes preparation, assessment, evaluation research, tutorials, seminars and administrative responsibilities. In a semester system, there is additional workload that cannot be caged in a fixed time frame," they wrote. Citing the government reply based on information by UGC, which clearly submits that teachers should be available for at least five hours/day in college/university, they said "to be available and to engage five classes per day are obviously different". "We request you to interpret the UGC recommendations as it is and issue suitable revised guidelines in that light," they added....