Teacher vacancy in higher edu exposes the rot in the system

Supreme Court's warning is timely: A society that treats its teachers as expendable "daily wagers" cannot build a knowledge economy.

- AJIT RANADE

In response to a petition, the Supreme Court recently expressed dismay at the low salary paid to contractual teachers in certain Gujarat colleges. The bench said, "It is disturbing that assistant professors are getting monthly emoluments of Rs 30,000. It is high time that the state takes up the issue and rationalises the pay structure on the basis of functions that they perform."

The pay of the contractual assistant professors has not changed since 2012. But those appointed on a regular basis for similar academic duties are paid between 1.2 and 1.4 lakhs per month, i.e., four times more. This violates the principle of equal pay for equal work in the same organisation. The contractual faculty also have no corresponding benefits like health, earned leave or pension, which the regular faculty get.

The court said that it is not enough to recite "Gururbramha Gururvishnu Gururdevo Maheshwarah" (prayer and adoration of teachers) at public functions if the country is treating its teachers thus. Academicians, lecturers and professors are the intellectual backbone of the country, and they shape young minds.

But one-fourth pay for similar work to contractual teachers is not the only story of disparity. The more lamentable situation is the employing of part-time teachers, euphemistically called on a "clock hour basis" (CHB) across the country. When universities and colleges have sanctioned positions but do not get approvals to fill those positions as regular appointments, they resort to appointing faculty on the CHB basis. According to data from July this year, 26% of the total 18951 sanctioned faculty posts in 46 central universities are vacant. The situation in the state universities is much worse. In Rajasthan, 1597 of the 2512 sanctioned posts are vacant across sixteen universities. Of these, five state universities are operating without a single permanent faculty member, as per a Times of India report.