More than 50 per cent of the private colleges affiliated to Osmania University (OU) employ faculty who are sub-standard, a demographic that is affecting the number of students who are opting to study at these colleges, informed officials of the university. The problem, they say, is that colleges which offer professional courses, recruit professors who have completed their masters but have zilch experience in teaching for a lesser salary, despite there being an availability of qualified PhD holders willing to teach who would cost more.
“If private colleges recruit Ph.D holders as assistant professors, they have to pay more than `45,000 as salary according to the pay scale. So, they instead recruit people who post graduates with no experience in teaching or the field, and get away by paying a salary between the range of `8,000 and `10,000,” explained an official.
Speaking about the impact of the situation, U Umesh Kumar, joint director, Directorate of Admission, OU said, “Because of sub standard quality of faculty, students do not prefer to attend classes after some days. The part time faculty recruited by the colleges changes almost every semester and because of variation in methodology of teaching, students find it tough to cope up with subjects.”
Umesh Kumar added that the situation is not limited to private colleges offering professional courses but to institutes offering courses of all standards who recruit such faculty.
Out of about 700 colleges affiliated to OU located in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medak, 90 per cent of them are private colleges. So how is the varsity planning to stem the problem? S Satyanarayana, vice chancellor, OU, says that regular inspection to ensure quality faculty is one way they are going about it.
Institutes offering courses like MBA, MCA and other courses are inspected every year by the Directorate of Academic Audit team of OU. “On paper they show us that sufficient number of professors have been recruited and are being paid salaries on date. However we have our reservations about it,” shared Satyanarayana.
The vice chancellor said that if students and their parents become pro-active and complain to them about the discrepancies at colleges, the administration can take some action. “If any student complains that faculty at their college is of poor standard, we can act on it. Students should come forward to do so,” Satyanrayana added.