GTU affiliated colleges run short of teachers,technicians

“It turned out several colleges had been sharing a single teacher for years,making it look like there were enough teachers to teach,at least on paper. This was rampant. Now there’s no hiding it,” said a GTU official.

There has been a problem of teaching-staff shortage,not just of lecturers and professors but also technicians like welders and foundry operators in Gujarat’s technical institutes.

GTU Vice Chancellor Akshai Aggarwal said the new mandate is aimed at making things more transparent,and acts as a verification process. “We have asked the colleges to put up the details,and we have also put out a form for them to fill. The response has not been very good,so I am sending out teams armed with cameras to verify these details,and take pictures of the teachers as well to make sure,” said Aggarwal. “The only thing we can do as an university is to be a sledgehammer. We can threaten colleges that they should recruit or we withdraw their affiliation,” he added.

GTU officials estimate a teaching-staff shortage of about 40% to 50% during the last academic session in the government funded colleges. Estimates for the shortage of technicians is even greater,at 50% to 70%.

The task of recruiting teachers lies with the education department,which is facing problems as the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has high standards,and many aspirants from the state do not meet up to those standards.

“The standards are very high. But the AICTE is lowering them for the diploma colleges. So we may get more teachers for those colleges next year,” said Hasmukh Adhia,Principal Secretary of education. “There is a shortage,but it is not that big a problem. By next year,things will improve with more recruitments,” said Adhia.