Singapore: Singapore's second largest university has rejected an appeal to renew the tenure of an Indian-origin journalism Professor who is said to be critical of censorship in the city-state, a media report said on Wednesday.
47-year-old Dr Cherian George joined Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2004 and teaches courses on media at the university's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. But the decision by the university to not give him a fresh tenure means the associate professor George would have to leave the school within a year, 'The Straits Times' reported on Wednesday.
George had won a teaching excellence award from NTU in 2010, and has published several books. George, a former journalist, is said to have criticised the Singapore government in the past and has written several books and articles on censorship in Singapore.
George had appealed in March after his application for tenure was denied the month before. He has been denied tenure twice within three years.
Four of the university's most senior faculty members, including two ex-deans - Ang Peng Hua and Eddie Kuo - have written to the university, saying that denial of tenure to George would cause "serious damage to our academic reputation and professional integrity" and NTU's ability to attract top communication scholars, the report said.
Responding to media queries about George's appeal, NTU said it was not able to comment on specific cases as it is the university's policy to keep all employment matters confidential. NTU is the second largest university in Singapore after the National University of Singapore.
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