Govt in a fix over appointment of guest lecturers

Bengaluru: The government’s decision to relieve 5,500 guest lecturers for not possessing qualifications prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has severely impacted academic activities at state-run degree colleges across Karnataka.

The problem has been further compounded by the fact that the state government is not in a position to hire new guest lecturers since faculty members, who do not have UGC-prescribed qualifications, moved the court challenging their ineligibility to be recruited to these posts.

Pointing out that the matter was pending before the High Court, an official in the Department of Higher Education said, “The state government is trying to impress on the court how vital guest lecturers are to academic activities.  We are dealing with a shortage of qualified candidates for at least seven to eight subjects.”

The UGC’s guidelines stipulate that each guest lecturer must either have a NET/SET/SLET qualification or a PhD.

An Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist lamented the state government’s failure to ensure the appointment of guest lecturers for the current academic year.

“At least 11,000 guest faculty positions are lying vacant,” the activist rued. 

The ABVP student activists staged a statewide protest on Wednesday, demanding immediate recruitment of guest faculty.

Given that 3,000 permanent lecturers retired ahead of the start of the current academic year, the 432 government degree colleges currently have only a little more than 3,000 permanent lecturers to manage the workload.