Research & teaching suffer as 60% faculty posts vacant in 5 Maharashtra universities

Time of India

5 days ago

Pune: More than 60% teaching posts are vacant in at least five of the 11 traditional universities in the state. Research and higher education are affected because there aren't enough professors, associate professors and assistant professors as the sanctioned number of posts are based on student intake figures from over a decade ago.
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There has been a significant increase in student enrolment across these universities in recent years which makes the current sanctioned strength for teaching posts insufficient.
The last major recruitment was in 2014. The additional burden of over 60% vacancy is severely impacting the quality of teaching and research output, experts said.
These public institutions are called traditional universities as they have been established by state legislation under the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016.
Data collated from Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), University of Mumbai, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University and Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University shows that Nagpur university has 66%, the highest vacancy, followed by Mumbai at 64.6%, Kolhapur at 61%, Pune and Marathwada universities at 60%, respectively.
Top officials from these universities declined to speak on record but said that they have been suffering over the past few years due to the huge number of vacancies.
One of the registrars said that these universities were once recognised for their research, but now there is a huge setback.
"Affiliated colleges were more focused on teaching while universities were centres of research. But now, there is hardly any time for teachers to conduct research. This also affects the quality of teaching because a university requires senior, mid-level and junior faculty members. Currently, even completing the syllabus has become a challenge in universities," the registrar of a state university said.
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Another registrar pointed to the ongoing recruitment of contractual teachers which is impacting university funds.
"The funds that could be used for the university's development, funding research projects, or incubation centres for students are being used to recruit faculty members on a contractual basis. Govt must recruit teachers according to the present needs of the university," the registrar added.
W N Gade, former vice-chancellor of SPPU, said the lack of senior faculty vacancies is severely impacting the quality of teaching, especially in university departments where research is crucial.
He said temporary appointments cannot uphold the standards required for effective teaching and research and without adequate faculty, syllabi remain incomplete, and students graduate without depth of knowledge.
"It affects the overall educational standards. Indian universities are struggling as minimum standards are not being maintained. Appointments at all levels as per UGC guidelines are necessary. At Pune university, we had approvals until 2017, but after that, recruitment was halted.
The last significant recruitment in the state was in 2014, with some approvals extending to 2017," Gade added.
Earlier this year, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis approved 788 teaching and 2,242 non-teaching vacancies sanctioned in public universities, but professors said it is not enough.
A senior professor said that his department has 42 sanctioned posts, but only 18 have been filled of which 16 are professors and two are associate professors.
He said they cannot form an internal committee in the department because the UGC has specified the members of the committee which include an assistant professor.
He added that options for elective subjects that students can choose should be available but most subjects become compulsory because there are no teachers for instruction.