Faculty vacancies blunt India’s global edge

Teacher shortage in higher education is leading to poor learning outcomes and misaligned workforce skills

In response to a petition, the Supreme Court recently expressed dismay at the low salary paid to contractual teachers in certain Gujarat colleges. The bench said, “It is disturbing that assistant professors are getting monthly emoluments of Rs 30,000. It is high time that the State takes up the issue and rationalises the pay structure on the basis of functions that they perform.” The pay of the contractual assistant professors has not changed since 2012. But those appointed on a regular basis for similar academic duties are paid between Rs 1.2 and 1.4 lakh per month, i.e. four times more. This violates the principle of equal pay for equal work in the same organisation. The contractual faculty also have no corresponding benefits like health, earned leave or pension, which the regular faculty get. The court said that it is not enough to recite gururbrahma gururvishnu gururdevo maheshwarah (prayer and adoration of teachers) at public functions if the country was treating its teachers thus. Academicians, lecturers, and professors are the country’s intellectual backbone and they shape young minds.

But one-fourth pay for similar work to contractual teachers is not the only story of disparity. The more lamentable situation is the employing of part-time teachers, euphemistically called on clock-hour basis (CHB). When universities and colleges have sanctioned positions but do not get approvals to fill those positions as regular appointments, they resort to appointing faculty on CHB. According to data from July this year, 26% of the total 18,951 sanctioned faculty posts in 46 Central universities are vacant. The situation in the state universities is much worse. In Rajasthan, 1,597 of the 2,512 sanctioned posts are vacant across 16 universities. Of these, five state universities are reported to be operating without a single permanent faculty member. In Maharashtra, colleges and universities are heavily reliant on CHB teachers because recruitment has lagged. Of the 53,178 sanctioned positions, nearly 7,000 remain vacant. More than 60% of the teaching posts lie vacant in at least five of the 11 traditional state universities in Maharashtra. These include the universities of Mumbai, Pune, and Kolhapur. CHB teachers are paid a measly Rs 400 to 800 per lecture, with a maximum of 30 lectures a month, with no health insurance, pension or leave benefits. There is no job security as they face annual re-appointments and unpredictable workloads.

The General Secretary of the Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union has warned, “By normalising CHB positions, the government is casualising higher education... a CHB teacher’s job is akin to that of a daily-wage worker.” One side-effect is that private universities will proliferate, which in itself may not be a bad thing, unless their regulation is lax. With limited state regulatory capacity and oversight, the situation can also become desperate for the faculty in private colleges.

The growing reliance on underpaid, undertrained, and insecure faculty has lowered incentives for long-term academic investment, research, and mentoring. In many colleges, permanent faculty focus on administrative roles, while day-to-day teaching is left to CHB instructors juggling multiple colleges. The teacher shortage crisis is compounded by a collapse of trust in government-run education.

Shaky public education

Not surprisingly, there is an exodus of students to private colleges and universities. This can also be seen in the emptying out of government schools. In urban India, over 30% students attend government schools, as per a recent CMS survey. This survey also reports that in affluent neighbourhoods, municipal schools operate with single-digit enrolments. Nearly 54% of urban enrolments are in unaided schools. This shift has resulted in underutilised public infrastructure, while municipal budgets continue to fund half-empty schools. For instance, in the recent July frenzy for admissions to junior colleges across Maharashtra, it was revealed that there were 300 colleges, fully funded by the State, that received zero applicants. These colleges receive grants for staff and faculty salaries but have no students. There is suspicion that this state of affairs has been going on for quite some time. It was shocking enough for the Bombay High Court to take suo motu cognisance and initiate legal proceedings.

The weak public education system has fuelled a booming shadow schooling economy, with one in three students nationally taking private coaching. In urban areas, 98% of private unaided school students pay for coaching. The combined effects of teacher shortages, contractualisation, and parallel schooling are devastating for India’s long-term competitiveness. It leads to poor learning outcomes and misaligned workforce skills, because curricula lag hopelessly. No wonder that of the college-educated youth in the 24-29 age group, the unemployment rate is more than 30%. Graduates are unable to secure employment – a paradox hidden in the promise of higher education. For instance, in the Generative AI (GenAI) sector, only one qualified engineer exists for every 10 open positions, as per TeamLease Digital. The electronic manufacturing sector, especially smartphone production, lacks both blue-collar workers and skilled engineers, putting the Make in India momentum at risk.

The way forward is clear. An aggressive mission to fill all teacher vacancies with full-time appointments, professionalising the CHB positions and enforcing the principle of equal pay for equal work, investing in teacher training and updating the curriculum to be future-oriented, and rebuilding trust in public schools, colleges and universities.

The Supreme Court’s warning is timely: a society that treats its teachers as expendable “daily wagers” cannot build a knowledge economy. India’s aspirations, whether a $5-trillion economy, a global innovation hub, or a skills superpower, ultimately rest on fixing its education foundations. Investing in educators is investing in the future. Without urgent reforms, the combined weight of teacher shortages, contractualisation, and inequality will deepen the divide between privileged learners and those left behind, risking India’s demographic dividend and long-term growth.

(The writer is an economist; Syndicate: The Billion Press)