Hyderabad: Teachers' deficit for extra quota

Hyderabad: Senior professors say the 25 per cent increase in seats in colleges and universities, announced by the Centre to make up for the 10 per cent quota for upper caste poor, will take the shine away from management quota seats.

NIT Warangal director Prof. N.V. Ramana Rao explained that the increase in seats will create more opportunities for students across categories in  universities. “With infrastructure and faculty upgraded and improved, most students are prioritizing admissions in these colleges. Hence the major rush is in Category A and B.”

There may not be enough teaching staff for year 2019-20, when the 10 per cent quota takes effect. 

A senior professor said. “Presently, the faculty strength should be 1:10 for centrally funded universities. In the same ratio, the faculty vacancies will have to be filled. There is also a need to upgrade  infrastructure appropriately with the increase in students,” said a senior professor.

There is an expection that private institutes will feel the pinch if the number of seats are increased in the government sector. Recent estimates in the various education workshops have shown that the craze for engineering, MBA and MCA courses has dimmed and there is more weightage being given to law, business management and social science courses.

Asked about this, president of the Engineering Colleges Association in Telangana G. Goutham said, “The real picture will be clear once the Centre comes out with details of the increase in seats and the quota arrangements.”

Fifty private engineering colleges were closed in 2018 as the All India Council of Technical Education did not certify them due to lack of infrastructure and faculty. With the education sector further opening up, there could be a tilt towards state-funded private colleges, said an expert.

The quota will be implemented in 40,000 colleges and 900 universities across the country.