Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said college teachers will no longer have to compulsorily conduct research to be eligible for promotions, PTI reported. Instead, they can opt to engage in a community or student-related activity, based on which they will be assessed.

“We are going to do away with the mandatory clause of research for college teachers seeking promotions,” Javadekar said. “An official announcement in this regard will follow soon. Instead of that, I want teachers to be engaged in student activity. We will make one community activity or student activity mandatory,” Javadekar said.

Mandatory research for college teachers has brought down the quality of research, Javadekar said. Research will continue to remain mandatory for university professors who guide M Phil and PhD scholars.