HYDERABAD: A large number of vacant teaching posts in degree and PG colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are adding to the woes of higher education institutes which are already in a dilemma over the implementation of Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). According to the data available with the Directorate of Collegiate Education, AP, nearly 1,450 teaching posts are vacant in government and aided degree colleges for over three years. In Telangana, the colleges have around 1,000 vacant teaching posts.
With no recruitment of regular staff for the past few years, the colleges are depending on contract lecturers and part- time lecturers to complete the syllabus. A senior faculty member at Osmania University said, “There is a serious shortage of teachers for subjects like physics, mathematics and chemistry. This resulted in multiple colleges using the services of same teachers who visit more than five colleges.”
He further said the visiting faculty only take theory classes and their responsibility ends at the completion of the syllabus. Practical classes and preparation for exams are completely left to the students. This had a severe impact on the enrolment in government colleges, he added. Recently the Telangana government announced to fill these vacant posts in government colleges, but no time frame was given for recruitment process. Earlier, the AP government proposed to fill 25 per cent of vacant teaching posts through a fresh recruitment. But the proposal remained only on papers. With such huge shortage of faculty, the colleges have already expressed concern over implementation of UGC’s recent initiatives like CBCS. Semester was made mandatory for all degree and PG colleges from this academic year.
Adding to this, degree colleges in Telangana had to begin the new academic year without new textbooks. The Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) has recently approved the new syllabus. But the books are yet to be printed.