Vacant posts of principals to be filled in first grade colleges

Infrastructure and quality of teaching in first grade colleges is expected to improve with the Higher Education department finally giving the go ahead to fill up more than 350 vacant posts of principals. The appointments were on hold since 2011 due to a case pending in the Supreme Court. With the arrival of principals, lecturers of these colleges hope that the infrastructure and quality of teaching would get a boost.

In a letter, Higher Education Minister T B Jayachandra asked department officials to call a meeting as soon as possible and start the process to fill up the vacant principal posts. Along with this, director and joint director posts lying vacant in the Collegiate Education Department would also be filled. The letter noted that the government was unable to fill up the posts earlier owing to the court case.

Lecturers of these colleges have been demanding that the government fill up these posts at the earliest as OOD principals were officiating and the quality of teaching and infrastructure  suffered. President of Government College Teachers Association Dr H Prakash said the appointments were a need of the hour. “The appointments will now be made pending the Supreme Court verdict. However, this has to be done immediately. The Higher Education department should conduct the tests as soon as possible to fill these posts.”

The Finance Department has also approved clearance of arrears of lecturers, pending since 2006. About Rs 86 crore has been earmarked for the purpose. Officials have been asked to immediately release the funds.

However, the available funds will meet only a part of the dues to lecturers. “This is hardly 15 per cent of the pending arrears. We have been promised the remaining arrears by February,” Prakash added.