The University of Delhi continues to be afflicted by high rates of faculty shortages. In may 2016, although the Parliamentary Standing Committee on education headed by Satyanarayan Jatiya expressed concern over the issue, no steps were taken in this direction.
Firstly, the problem is many institutions do not have the funds or required infrastructure to hire new faculty as there are not many offices and laboratories for them to work in.
Secondly, there is a lack of well-qualified faculty for both research and teaching positions.
Thirdly, not all universities have increased salaries of the faculty under the recommendations of the sixth pay commission. The teaching profession in India has continuously and has considerably lost its status over the past few years due to political interference, lack of funds, and corruption.
There is also a difference in faculty shortages in different courses. For courses such as computer sciences and management studies, there is a more significant deficit across Indian universities.
As of 2016, approximately sixty percent of teaching posts were vacant in Delhi University. In many cases, the university colleges are not in a position to hire permanent faculty, and thus hire teaching faculty on an ad hoc basis.
As a solution to these issues, the government can provide the university with proper funds to ensure dissemination of quality education to ensure skill development of growing youth. Also, encourage students to join postgraduate programmes by giving better incentives to ensure the availability of a qualified faculty. Salaries should also be increased to encourage qualified people to join this profession as well as ensure that the existing faculty is satisfied. Financial assistance should be provided so as to encourage colleges under Delhi University to hire faculty on a permanent basis.
In a country which is many times called the nation of youth, it is only reasonable to have a well-qualified teaching faculty to ensure skill development and availability of quality education as today’s children are the future leaders of the Indian nation.
