HRD’s Task Force suggests Measures to Curb Faculty Shortage

The task force appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and co-ordinated by University Grants Commission, consulted vice chancellors of various universities, representatives of the regulatory bodies, students and faculty and submitted its final report on the issue of faculty shortage and performance appraisal to Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource.

The findings of the task force say that at present, there is a shortage of about 3,00,000 faculty in the system. Besides this, the fall in the coming decade is going to increase at the rate of 1,00,000 faculty a year.

The committee has proposed that every academic institute should have an independent faculty recruitment and development cell to be headed by a senior faculty member who will report to the head of institution. It said that all administrative cobwebs should be removed to ensure smooth process of induction and promotion of faculty cadre.

It also noted that administrative hindrances and delays are a major impediment in creating healthy strength of faculty members and inappropriate arrangements for hiring the service of guest faculty and faculty on contract should be stopped. It has also suggested a suitable regime of hiring the services of such personnel, if necessary, by an institution.

The Task Force has also proposed a novel scheme of inducting young men and women in the academic profession, while they are pursuing their academic career. Measures of appreciation such as honours and awards should be offered to those faculty members whose services are outstanding, said the committee.

It also recommended that appropriate additional financial compensation be made available for faculty members carrying out research work besides their normal teaching. It has also proposed a Performance Appraisal template which is the same as notified by the UGC recently. The different aspects to be taken into account for performance appraisal are generic in nature and should be used for evaluation of the faculty performance and deciding about their career progression.

The task force's recommendations are a part of government's efforts to overhaul the education system.

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Sat, 08/13/2011 - 07:58

G S Singh (not verified)

creating an eco system to attract the best for teaching & res.

Well to the best of my understanding and experience this recommendation is half baked. GOI or our education systen just can not become world class by employing 3 lakh teachers and from where? Already our government and society has dowgraded the profession to such an extent that the mediocres or still lower in the class will opt for teaching. Look at the engineering colleges and majority of the business schools, engineers and MBA who can not get the "proper" job join teaching. Whats our hope? Students learning suffers, employers suffer and we as nation suffer for the lack of quality professionals and work force and work culture. Do we have the political will and patience to try Finland model. Started in 1970s, Finland education system from primary to university is being considered as best in the world. Other following are Singapore, South Korea and Israel. Teachers in Finland are trusted by the system and society. The formal / informal evaluation is done by the teachers and taken as such. However to know the learning standards a random sample of students are evaluated and report on the state of learning published for further objective setting. There are no accrediations or gradings in Finland. Overall - rather a superset of objectives is set by consensus - and institutions try to reach these objectives by the means available to them but complete freedom on methodology. Teacheres in Finland are paid well, have freedom to innovate and research and apply those ideas for student learning. Do we have the will and intention even to try on these lines. If done consistently and persistently, in twenty years we will not have governance and deliverables problems we are facing now. Start with creating an eco system to produce teachers who wnt to be teachers, are capable of doing resaech and can innovate. Can take majority of the students in class to their peak learning capacity and are trusted by the society and system.

Sat, 08/13/2011 - 05:38

Anonymous (not verified)

Shortage of faculty

It is a serious comment on the political will of the successive govts. Everybody laments on the pathetic quality of education but the Govts and Political Masters choose only lip sympathy in place of concrete action. Teaching is said to be a noble profession but it is far from being attractive. The salaries of this profession have remained the lowest and no one seems to be concerned. Like any other profession it requires years of experience and dedicated efforts to become a proficient teacher. Being a craft it demands a talent and passion to pursue it. Today, people are in the profession for the love of it and not for the money. This must change if more people have to take up faculty positions Every person only wants to mouth homilies and pay a pittance. The private institutions expect their teachers to be versatile, highly qualified, commanding a high respect from the society at large- all for free. While corporate employees are highly paid , the teacher is expected to work for free. In the education business, all quality standards apply only to the academics at very little investment. This kind of thinking is certainly not helping talent people to take up teaching. Experienced professionals who can impart valuable professional experience and knowledge do not find it attractive enough to spend time with the students. Many good professionals teach because of their love for teaching. Had the remuneration been attractive; the professionals would have pursued teaching as a viable option. There are a lot many things that go with the creation of the right ambience to foster a heathy attitude to teaching but the question of poor salaries need to addressed at all levels without delay.

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:35

drjsanand (not verified)

3 LAKH TEACHERS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

IT IS A MATTER OF SHAME FOR THE NATION THAT EDUCATION HAS BECOME AN INDUSTRY WHERE THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE PREVAILS. THE UGC IMPOSES CONDITIONS ON THE APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS. BUT THERE IS NO CONDITION OF PAYMENT OF SALARIES. TO THE TEACHERS. IT IS THE WHIM AND WILL OF THE PRIVATE BUSINESSMEN TO PAY OR UNDERPAY ANY TEACHERS. MR. SIBAL, MR. SAM, AND MR UGC, YOUR WORD ABOUT CONDITIONS IS GOOD, YOUR DESIRE TO HAVE GOOD FACULTY CAN NOT BE FAULTED, BUT WHO WILL ENSURE PROPER SALARIES TO THE TEACHERS? YOUR PRIVATE COLLEGES AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES ARE NOT BOUND IN ANY WAY TO PAY THE SALARIES WHICH UGC PRESCRIBES. WHY CANNOT YOU ENSURE THAT IF CONDITIONS ARE APPLIED, SALARIES ARE ALSO PAID ACCORDINGLY. IT IS AGAIN A MATTER OF SHAME THAT THE PRIVATE PLAYERS IN EDUCATION ARE HAVING A FIELD DAY. THERE ARE NO RULES. NO REGULATIONS. THEY KNOW HOW TO SKIP AND MAKE THE GAME EASY. HOW CAN YOU RECONCILE THE TWO EXTREMES: COLLECTION OF WEALTH AND DISPENSING EDUCATION. ONE IS A PERSONAL NEED, THE OTHER A SOCIAL NECESSITY. MR. SAM PITRODA, OUR MODERN ORACLE. YOU HAVE GIVEN WONDERFUL IDEAS TO THIS WORLD. BUT YOUR WORLD IS VERY VERY BAD. VISIT THE COLLEGES AND SEE FOR YOURSELF. HOW EDUCATED PEOPLE ARE ROTTING IN SMALL SALARIES. THOSE WHO WISH TO PAY DONT HAVE THE MEANS TO PAY. YOUR GOVTS. DONT SUPPORT THEM. EDUCATION IS NOT A MATTER OF BUSINESS. SIR. READ THE WRITING ON THE WALL. UNDERFED AND MALTREATED TEACHERS WILL CREATE CITIZENS WHICH WILL BE A THREAT TO THE DIGNITY OF THE NATION. THE CORRUPTION THAT YOU ARE SEEING EVERYWHERE IS THE RESULT OF THE MALTREATMENT OF THE TEACHERS BY SUBSEQUENT GOVERNMENTS.

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:33

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:25

3 LAKH TEACHERS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.

IT IS A MATTER OF SHAME FOR THE NATION THAT THE UGC IS ENFORCING ITS CONDITIONS LIKE NET ON SELECTIONS OF TEACHERS WHEREAS THERE IS NO CONDITION ON WHAT THE PRIVATE ENTERPRISES PAY TO THE TEACHERS. ARE WE EDUCATING OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS SIMPLY TO BE ROBBED AND LOOTED BY PRIVATE BUSINESSMEN WHO ARE RUNNING TEACHING SHOPS? WHERE ARE GOVT. AND UGC CONDITIONS ABOUT PAY? HAS THE UGC TEAMS VISITED THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF COLLEGES WHICH HAVE MUSHROOMED HERE AND THERE AND WHAT THEY ARE PAYING TO THEIR TEACHERS/ WHAT YOUR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES ARE DOING TO THE ELITE TEACHERS WITH HIGHEST QUALIFICATIONS? WHAT ARE THE WORKING HOURS/ ARE TEACHERS MEANT TO DO LABOUR IN PRIVATE COLLEGES? and LIVE ON BARE MINIMUM? MR. SIBAL, MR. SAM PITRODA, AND MR. UGC, BEFORE YOU PUT CONDITIONS, MAKE IT SURE YOUR FACULTY MEMBERS ARE GETTING THEIR DUE IN MILLIONS OF COLLEGES WHERE TEACHERS ARE SIMPLY LOOTED. EDUCATION IS THE WORST INDUSTRY WHERE THERE IS NO LABOUR LAWS. I WONDER IN WHICH WORLD OUR LEADERS ARE MOVING? MR. SAM PITRODA IS OUR NEW ORACLE. KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRY. MR. SAM. WORDS ARE VERY GOOD BUT YOUR WORLD IS VERY VERY BAD.

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:00

HRD’s Task Force suggests Measures to Curb Faculty Shortage

Unless qualified teachers are paid better salaries and provided with other benefits at par with industries, no matter who does what, the problem will remain. Teaching is the most serious profession: training of the most complicated machine, human brain. Transfer of knowledge from one person to other person is not easy and it requires the BEST brains to do the job. Teaching profession must have the highest monetary rewards to attract the best people who can devote their time and energy without worrying about financial obligations. Let us assure those who are committed to this profession that once you are ready and meet the standards, you will be richly rewarded professionally, financially and socially. Alas, the society has forgotten what Kabir had said about Guru!

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 16:16

murari prasad guru (not verified)

appointment of retired teachers

steps should be taken to appoint retired teachers who have been deprived of ugc regulation of 65 years of service in many states.They should be reemployed Prof M.P.Guru xxxxx@xxxxx.com 555-5555

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:34

APPOINTING RETIRED TEACHERS

Where will the army of the unemployed young people who are qualified will go?

Edu-leaders

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