What the government thought was a smart move - to use the services of teachers only for subjects they are paid for - has backfired. Hundreds of college teachers now draw good pay but have little work.

 In the last few years, when new subjects were introduced, the government allowed lecturers in aided colleges to teach physics and maths, while computer science was not covered under the grant-in-aid code for PMC. 
This benefited aided private colleges, which are already collecting  huge donations from students. They used the services of physics and maths teachers, and hired only computer science teachers.

Till three years ago, the government had allowed the aided colleges to use the services of physics, chemistry, maths, botany and zoology teachers to teach students opting for new combinations.

Then, the government introduced restrictions stating that their services should be used only in case of traditional combinations in science, including PCM and CBZ, and arts subjects. With students opting more challenging and job-oriented combination, the traditional combinations have a few takers. This has forced teachers to spend less time on teaching.

Not permitted
“Teachers in aided colleges are not permitted to teach their subjects in new combinations, resulting in the drastic decline in workload. And, there are not many students in aided combinations. In some colleges, managements have appointed separate teachers to teach traditional subjects,” said Prof K G Lokesh, Chemistry lecturer, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women.

He added that one of the reasons for categorising the subjects could be that more private colleges might have approached the government for grants.

Dr Gangadhar, Zoology lecturer at V V Puram Science College, said that 75 per cent of aided teachers have little work.

“This problem is more in science courses. We want the government to use our services by permitting us to teach in course like PMC,” he added.

However, colleges like National Degree College, Basavanagudi, utilises the services of teachers for all courses. “Managements have to pay more for new teachers to teach aided subjects and we are not ready for it,” said M Leelavathi, principal of the college.  Even the taskforce committee, which was constituted to study various issues in the higher education system in Karnataka, supports the teachers’ view. Headed by Dr M R Srinivasan, former Chairman, Atomic Commission of India, the committee was set up to study various issues in higher education. The committee stated that in aided colleges, aided teachers should be allowed to teach unaided courses, and this work should be eligible for Grant – in – Aid  (GIA). “This permission will optimise the use of the time of teachers,” it stated.

Objection
According to an official from the Collegiate Education Department, the department had earlier permitted aided teachers to teach their subjects in unaided combinations. “But the audit raised an objection, and all the subjects in unaided courses were considered unaided,” the official said.

Further, the official said a few rounds of discussions were held with the government in this regard but “didn't progress much” in spite of the department favouring the teachers. The department is planning to place the matter before the government again.