COLLEGES REOPEN IN J&K AFTER 66 DAYS

EDUCATION GAP Human resource development ministry requests governors to take up matter with state governments

n CHANDIGARH: Around 28% of the faculty positions in the state universities and colleges across the country are lying vacant.

Of the total 2,46,509 faculty positions, only 1,79,950 are currently filled and the remaining posts are vacant, according to information shared by the Union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) with the state governors last month.

The process for recruitment to 7,959 of these teaching posts in government colleges in Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh is currently underway.

The ministry has urged the governors of all the states to take up the matter with their respective state governments for filling vacant faculty positions in a time-bound manner.

They have also been asked to direct the universities to prepare the roadmap and submit the same to their respective state governments.

“The vacancies have affected the quality of education in these institutions as several of them depend on temporary staff and guest faculty to impart education. The goal is to fill 100% faculty positions in state universities and colleges. Governors have been requested to give it a push as chancellors of state universities,” said a HRD ministry official.

Punjab, for instance, has only 391 regular teachers in government colleges against the sanctioned strength of 1,873 with part-time staff, guest faculty and retired teachers working on extension filling the gap.

The vacant posts issue will come up in the state governors’ annual conference to be held in Delhi next month for which the ministry has sought suggestions from them.

The appointment of vicechancellors in state universities will also be taken up in the governors’ meet. Of the 292 state universities, 40, mostly in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, do not have full-time V-Cs.

Besides requesting the governors to take it up with the state governments to fill the vacancies, the MHRD proposed that the University Grants Commission (UGC) should issue regulations prescribing 10 years of professorship, three years of administrative experience, research publications in global based journals not less than 30, guiding at least 10 PhDs and impeccable integrity as minimum qualifications for appointment of V-Cs in state universities.

The agenda for the governors’ conference also includes review of progress of accreditation of state universities by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, status of grant of autonomy, quality mandate of All India Council for Technical Education and implementation of “Fit India Campaign” in state universities and colleges.

PUNJAB HAS ONLY 391 REGULAR TEACHERS IN GOVERNMENT COLLEGES AGAINST THE SANCTIONED STRENGTH OF 1,873