Faculty crunch in colleges as filling vacancies delayed

Faculty crunch in colleges as filling vacancies delayed

AnanthaNarayanan.K@timesgroup.com

Kochi:15.11.2020

The delay in filling vacancies of teachers, both regular and guest, has affected academic activities in several colleges in Kerala and now the pandemic and the resultant financial crunch is further worsening the situation. The directorate of collegiate education (DCE) has restricted the appointment of teachers in higher educational institutions under its ambit during the pandemic.

Besides the delay in regularizing appointment of faculties, the heads of institutions were asked to temporarily stop appointing guest lectures until further notice, and emergency appointments could only be made after special permission from the department.

Moreover, in case if any college faces severe shortage of teachers leading to interruption in teaching of subjects, the principals/ HODS will have to make arrangements with other colleges and avail online lessons on respective subjects from the teachers there.

A circular regarding this was sent by the DCE to all heads of institutions through deputy directors. Many colleges are struggling to complete syllabi through online classes, and with the classes of first-year undergraduate and postgraduate students beginning in most colleges by next week, the faculty crunch will be a problem. Even though many colleges have conducted interviews, they are hesitant to make appointments fearing government action.

The situation is worse in aided colleges compared to government colleges, where appointments through transfer is possible to meet the requirements to a certain extent. College principals and teachers said that the government will have to clear the delay in appointments immediately.

“There are around 28 unfilled vacancies across departments in the college and the coverage of portions was mostly managed through guest lecturers. The restrictions in appointing guest teachers are affecting academics. Though we held interviews to find qualified teachers, they are doubtful about getting salaries due to the present restrictions and hence have not joined. It is impractical to avail online classes from other colleges to compensate for faculty crunch. With the classes of new batches beginning, there will be additional workload on teachers,” said a HOD at St Albert’s College, Ernakulam.

Fr Prashant Palackapilly, principal of Sacred Heart College, Ernakulam, said that faculty crunch will affect the quality of education imparted. “The system of filling vacancies in Kerala has several flaws and delays. This has worsened during the pandemic. Getting qualified and efficient guest lecturers itself is a difficult task and even if we find someone the appointments are not possible,” he said.

The higher education department has recently approved 197 hybrid courses, including nearly 20 integrated courses, across the state and gave the permission to start the course this month itself. But only guest lectures will have to be appointed for these new courses until 2025. The restrictions in appointment of guest lecturers are delaying the implementation of new courses too.

Higher education department officials said that the government will have to issue a new order regarding the appointments for these courses. “The reports and complaints from colleges about faculty shortage have increased since the pandemic began. But the government circular will exist until offline classes are resumed. For appointments of teachers in newly-announced courses, we are awaiting further orders,” a senior official with DCE said.

The heads of institutions were asked to temporarily stop appointing guest lectures too