Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 30
Almost two in every five faculty positions in the premiere Indian Institutes of Technology are vacant putting question marks on the quality of instruction being offered to wannabe engineers.
The latest government review of faculty shortage in centrally funded technical institutions - 16 IITs, four Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs) - reveals worrisome trends of institutions' inability to attract teachers despite recent relaxations in recruitment rules.
Almost 38% faculty positions the HRD Ministry has sanctioned for the 16 IITs are vacant pushing the student-teacher ratio to 16:1 as against the mandated 10:1. Of the approved strength of 6944 teachers in IITs, only 4308 are in place; 2636 positions are vacant.
The highest shortage is at IIT, BHU where more than half (58.1 pc) of the sanctioned posts are vacant. Shortages for older IITs are equally high - 31.4 pc for IIT Bombay; 43.9 pc for IIT Delhi; 37.9 for IIT Kanpur; 45.8 pc for IIT Kharagpur and 43.9 for IIT Roorkee.
The situation in NITs --- formerly regional engineering colleges -- is no better with 28 pc of the sanctioned faculty positions vacant. Out of 6467 sanctioned strength, these institutes have only 4667 teachers; 1800 posts are vacant. Student faculty ratio at NITs is 17:1 as against the Government mandated 12: 1.
Same is the case with four IIITs where 116 out of 282 teachers' posts are vacant. This translates into a 41.1 pc faculty shortage for these institutes at Allahabad, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Kancheepuram.
The statistics reveal that potential faculty is unwilling to join premiere technical institutions to the detriment of India's future requirement for engineers. The faculty crunch, Government sources say, is persisting despite measures adopted to attract the same. Some measures include - year round open advertisements; selection committee meetings through video conferencing; invitation to alumni, scientists and faculty to track potential candidates; ads in international journals and outstanding young faculty awards.
IITs have also been allowed to appoint NRIs and PIOs to faculty positions on the same terms as those for regular faculty. In October, the Ministry even approved mobility of faculty from one central educational institution to another to tide over the crisis of teacher shortage.
"Faculty in NITs has also been given parity with the faculty at IITs to attract quality teachers. The salary limit for employment visas to foreign faculty has been reduced from USD 25000 to USD 14000 to enable foreign faculty to join IITs and NITs," HRD Ministry sources say.
Experts, meanwhile, feel government's misplaced priorities in higher education are responsible for these trends. "Out of 16 IITs, eight were set up post 2009. Faculty position in these institutions is a matter of concern. The new Government is pushing its poll promise of one IIT per state. You can't create an IIT simply by saying you are creating one. Original IITs resulted from top level intellectual churning between Indian and foreign scientists who helped set up these institutes and instill excellence in them," said a former IIT Delhi academic.