Student-faculty ratio out of sync at state varsities

Visakhapatnam: The yawning faculty crunch at state varsities has cast the teacher-student ratio in disarray. As per the Ministry of Human Resources Development’s (MHRD) National Institutional Ranking Framework, the benchmark faculty-student ratio is 1:15 for universities and 1:10 for colleges of engineering, management, architecture and pharmacy. But most universities in Andhra Pradesh fall acutely short of the standard, healthy ratio.

Many departments of universities have been operating with one professor or contract-based professors, which is posing a hurdle to students involved in research and other academic pursuits. About 2,000 posts of professors, associate professors and assistant professors are lying vacant, with the appointment process stuck in a procedural tangle since years. Andhra University, the most sought after university in the state, having a student strength of about 12,744 students, has about 550 teaching and 1,400 non-teaching vacancies: this amounts to about 55 per cent of the required strength of the university. Only 11 permanent faculty members teach at Rayalaseema University, which has about 1,000 students. The Sri Venkateswara University (9,085 students) runs its show with 305 teachers while the Acharya Nagarjuna University has 115 teachers for its 6,500 students.

Most other universities, which are in a similar position, resort to using ad hoc faculty, denying students the very purpose of universities: providing quality education. Only Andhra University and Acharya Nagarjuna University made the cut to be on the ‘A’ graders list of rankings that the state government recently awarded, the faculty position being a benchmark. Dr B.R. Ambedkar University registrar Prof. G. Tulasi Rao said that universities had been left bereft of faculty as there had been no recruitments since the last few years. “The government is extending the superannuation period of faculty to another two years, which is a blessing for universities – or else, many senior professors would have retired by now,” he pointed out.

The state government launched many universities in Andhra Pradesh between 2006 and 2009 to provide every district at least one university. But citing lack of permanent faculty and research work, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council officials are refusing to accredit the varsity with the 12B status of the University Grants Commission (UGC). This inhibits varsities from taking up research work.

State nod for recruitment to cut down faculty woes:

The state government’s recent nod to recruit ab-out 1,000 faculty positions — in two separate notifications in two academic years, 2016-17 and 2017-18 – which is about half the vacancies in the state’s varsities, could help revive the ailing ones. With malpractices in recruitment rife in some universities, the state go-vernment has been thin-king of going in for a central recruitment procedure. The state had earlier appointed a special co-mmittee to visit all varsities in the state and devise a fair recruitment process. But the government is yet to frame the guidelines for this.

Andhra University sta-nds to gain the most by getting about 380 professors; Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati will be allocated about 200 professors while ab-out 120 permanent teachers will be appointed at Acharya Nagarjuna University. An Andhra University professor said on condition of anonymity that in-breeding had become an issue vis-à-vis hiring of faculty for universities.

“We need a recruitment process along the lines of the central universities whereby any qualified person from India can compete for a post. This ensures that the varsities get the cream of the applicants.” Prof. G. Tulasi Rao opined that a common syllabus and common curriculum would be better. “But 20 per cent of the syllabus should be based on the local needs. The recruitment could certainly help the varsities improve standards.”