Faculty crunch dogs varsities despite rise in retirement age

​Hyderabad: The crisis arising out of shortage of faculty in universities and degree colleges may not come to an end even though the retirement age is increased from 60 to 65, as recommended by the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE)

TSCHE Chairman Prof T Papi Reddy said there was nothing new in the proposal sent to the State government. The committee of the council had only reiterated what the University Grants Commission (UGC) recommended, he added.

However, given the sorry state of affairs, a senior official from the Kakatiya University said, increasing the retirement age of the faculty in the government degree colleges and universities cannot be postponed  
Around 135 government degree colleges in the Stare are facing shortage of faculty to the extent of 50 per cent. Further, a total of 50 degree colleges do not have full-time principals and they are being managed with in-charge principals. On the top of it, due to lack of qualified persons, one principal is acting as an in-charge principal for two to three colleges, the sources said. 

In view of the crisis, the UGC had earlier permitted to increase the retirement age of the faculty members in the IITs, IIMs and Central higher educational institutions. It helped the institutions retrain experienced faculty. However, in the case of Telangana State, non-appointment of faculty members for decades resulted in the current crisis, which, according to sources, is much more acute than that of in the Central higher educational institutions. 

For example, the Osmania University had to convert all those appointed as teaching assistants as assistant professors on contract to fulfil the norms of accreditation. Faced with a similar situation, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H) had to adopt the same as its accreditation had been kept pending. 

The story of Kakatiya, Sathavahana, the departments and postgraduate centres under Palamuru and Telangana universities are also facing similar crisis. Clarifying more on this, Prof B Satyanarayana from OU said, "Shortage of professors will hit the research and without infusing young blood the future of the colleges and universities will be uncertain."

Steps should be taken to have a mix of both the experienced and the young scholars as faculty members without which the crisis will continue. Further, "One should remember that the average recruitment age of faculty members in 2007 itself was around 40 to 45 years and it shows the urgency in taking up recruitment process forward," he added.

ABVP leader A Kiran said, “We welcome the increase in the retirement age to retain those faculty members who were really carrying out research and development activity. Further, the State government should immediately take up the recruitment of regular faculty at the university and the government colleges. 

Otherwise, any decision on the part of the State government to increase on the retirement age to 65 years will result in a tussle between the teachers and unemployed scholars inside and outside the campuses, he said.