Are engineering teachers demoralised? Self financing engineering colleges began in Maharashtra in 1983. Since then, they have reached all corners of the state. Many students have fulfilled their aspirations of becoming engineer through these colleges and are doing well in their professional life. However, recently there is growing concern about the seats remaining vacant in the colleges, lack of employability of the pass out students and falling standard of education in these institutions. When it comes to the quality of the education imparted, everyone points to the quality of teachers available in such institutions. However, no one is really keen to know the difficulties faced by the teachers who have chosen teaching in an engineering college as a career. It appears that the majority of the faculty members in such institutions are demoralised. Governing agencies like AICTE, State Government, and Universities have failed to regulate private managements to provide essential service conditions and opportunities for career development and pay packages. Following is the list of issues faced by the teachers in private engineering colleges. Kindly feel free to send you opinion to citizenforummumbai@gmail to enable us to compile the issues more comprehensively. 1. A minimum qualification for the post of Assistant Professor is post graduation in engineering. AICTE is well aware that post graduate staff is not available in the required numbers hence it permitted to recruit pro-term lecturers till June 2015 with graduation qualifications on ad hoc basis by paying salary of 30,000 per month. This norm is rarely followed by the colleges. 2. If the faculty is post graduate, managements are reluctant to approve them through University that entitles them for the benefits of the permanent employee. Not inviting the University staff selection committee is a common feature hence even the qualified staff remains ad hoc for a long duration of their service. 3. University expects all faculties to set the question papers, assess the answer books, examine the students in practical/ oral examination with no discrimination of whether the faculty is approved by University or working on ad hoc basis. 4. Majority of the institutions have not fixed the pay scales of faculty as per 6th pay norms. Every college has different methodology of paying the dearness allowance (DA). Most of the colleges fail to pay as per the current DA rates and moreover they do not follow practice of paying the arrears of DA. In turn the faculty loses a hefty amount in the entire career which may be equal to retirement corpus that every staff dreams of. 5. AICTE, DTE and Universities confirm the implementation of the 6th pay in the yes / no format but don’t go into the details of fixation and the actual benefit passed on to the faculty. Usually DA for the revised pay scale is so adjusted that there is hardly any incremental rise in the salary of the teacher. 6. Even without paying the salaries as per the norms the colleges can qualify for quality certification like accreditation and ISO certifications. Salaries are deliberately kept outside the purview of NBA. 7. Few colleges have adopted policy of not paying salaries to the faculty for about 3-4 month every year usually immediately after the end of financial year. No one has ever thought that regularity of paying salary could also be a norm!! 8. Higher posts like Associate Professor and Professor require minimum qualification of Ph.D. These posts are bound to remain vacant as AICTE admits that there are no teachers with PG qualifications in required number hence the possibility of getting the Ph.D staff is very dim. 9. Faculties are not encouraged to improve their qualification by way of sponsoring them for higher education. Majority of the institutions don’t pay salaries if the staff gets admission to higher course. Some colleges pay part of their salaries to the employees but full sponsorship for the entire duration as availed by faculties in Government services is usually not available to faculties in private institutes. 10. Faculty sponsorship of the staff usually carries weightage in the accreditation process but it not an essential condition. Hence accreditation is possible without sponsoring the faculty for higher studies. 11. Linking the Ph.D qualification to the promotion has given wrong signals to the faculty as the other qualities like teaching skills, experimenting with new teaching methods, development of the study material, communication skill, motivating the students, participation in administrative and cultural activities took a back seat as they cannot translate into promotion. 12. Ph.D qualification is overhyped and systematically promoted to create a opinion that without Ph.D qualified teachers, quality education is not possible. There is no research confirming Ph.D qualification of the teacher essentially translates into better teaching and improves learning experience of the student. The days are not far off when authorities would prescribe Ph.D as the minimum qualification for even the primary school teacher. 13. All roads are blocked if one fails to obtain the Ph.D that prompts teachers to adopt illegal methods like recently found in case of CMJ University of Meghalaya. 14. The Ph.D. research centers usually in a college, guide in a different college and the student in the third institute. It is very difficult for all three to meet together to make a useful research. 15. In spite of all odds some are pursuing the Ph.D but they are the once who are in the middle of their career with no point of return. 16. Young engineers stay away from this career as they realise that even after putting 12 years of education till XII std. Followed by 4 years of graduation, 2 years of post graduation and minimum of 4 years of Ph.D course cannot fetch more than 40, 00 salary as for the post of Associate Professor one has to have 5 years of experience. Thus you cannot expect more than 40,000 salary till the age of (12+2+4+4+5 = 27) + 6 years before you join school = 33!!. That too you need to be located in Mumbai to be eligible for 30 % HRA and a guanine employer!! 17. Finally the joke usually cracked by AICTE: Colleges need to maintain cadre ratio of Professor: Associate Professor: Assistant Professor of 1:2:6 to maintain quality of technical education. !!!
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 07:49:56 +0000
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