Biometric way to assess need

JNTU-Hyderabad, which is going to implement biometric attendance for teaching faculty in all engineering colleges, will give colleges the opportunity to fill vacancies as and when they arise during the academic year.

“Through bio-metric data, we will have an idea about faculty shortage if any, in each of the colleges. Accordingly, they will be asked to submit names so that the varsity can take up the selection process. This can be taken up round the year,” Vice-Chancellor Prof. A. Venugopal Reddy said.

The varsity wants to keep track of how many professors or lecturers are working in an engineering college, how many of them regularly attend to their duties or how many don't and hence using bio-metric data to register attendance is a more foolproof method.

Prof. Venugopal Reddy said that they will be getting the biometric data on a daily basis. The objective is to ensure qualified teachers are employed in all engineering colleges to improve teaching standards.

Former NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) Director V.S. Prasad said that varsities want to control faculty recruitment to ensure education standards do not dip while college managements want to have their say in recruitment of teachers in their respective institutions.

“The college managements and varsity are often found to be not on the same page on various issues. This is not new but rules can be simplified and amended from time to time. Educational standards are to be ensured at all costs,” he said.