Where are the teachers?

While we all know that we have a massive shortage of teachers in schools and even colleges, it was quite shocking to learn that the premier institute of India, IIT too is facing a crunch.

All the 23 IIT’s together today have a faculty shortage of 34%. This is not just in the newer institutes, but in older ones such as Mumbai, Kharagpur and Kanpur where the shortage is between 25% and 45%. The only IIT where there is a surplus is IIT-Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

IIT-Bhilai, in Chhattisgarh is in the worst spot with 58% vacancies. Kharagpur has 46% vacancies, followed by 36% in Kanpur, 29% in Delhi, 28% in Chennai and 27% in Mumbai – and alarmingly, these five are the top rated IITs.

What this once again shows is that merely putting an institute is not enough; it is in fact the easiest part. Getting faculty in these far flung backward areas to stay is the biggest challenge.

Early this year, a public appeal was given to M Tech and PhD students from IIT and NIT to work in the backward areas and serve the nation. There was an overwhelming response to the call and more than 5,000 highly-qualified persons applied. 1215 graduates were selected to teach in 53 of these top notch colleges in backward areas.

The ministry will pay the newly hired faculty Rs 70,000 per month in an initiative that is estimated to cost the government Rs 375 crore over the next three years.

This is most certainly the best way forward and the only way to overcome this shortage of teachers. Hope this experiment works and we are able to build a much better future for our nation. Afterall, it is graduates from the same institute who can probably make these ace students employable graudates.