Skilled teachers’ shortage in private universities

Academic institutions are not money-spinning machines run for creating potentially low-quality graduates

The predicament of acute shortage of skilled teachers in our private universities is a long overdue one. According to University Grants Commission (UGC) sources, a number of show-causes have been repeatedly issued against various private universities, pressuring them to recruit quality teachers but however, little did our private universities do to overcome this problem. In fact, many of them continue to run their academic courses without any senior teachers, professors or associate professors. Such careless functioning has indisputably reduced the quality of education at the tertiary level. 
In a couple of private universities, the teachers’ shortages have become so severe that the UGC has recommended the Ministry of Education to shut them down. At least 11 private universities are run without any senior teachers at all. More alarmingly, most of these universities have so far, deliberately ignored the UGC‘s repeated warning and requests for employing experienced senior teachers.  Why should these shoddily run institutions not be penalised and shut down?     According to news reports, the number of teachers was 15,058 in 2015. Of them, 10,188 were full-time teachers and 4,870 part-time teachers. However, among the full-time teachers, the numbers of professors were only 708, while 564 were associate professors, 2,178 were assistant professors, and 6,512 were lecturers. Coupled with the dearth of senior teachers another noticeable hazard is that the average career-span of most senior teachers in our private universities is too short. The reason behind the short-stay must also be addressed.    
The UGC is reported to have not the power to take stern steps against such universities and, hence, is seeking the cooperation of the government to take appropriate measures. If so, the government must right away address the issue in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the courts and the law enforcement agencies. This dilemma should not be allowed to continue for the academic benefits of our students. Furthermore, our concerned education authorities must discourage such poorly formed universities from introducing new subjects and programmes. The fact is, we cannot and should not expect responsible and intelligent students from these private academic institutions run by sub-standard teachers. Our private university authorities must realise that poor qualified teachers are not only unable to teach and guide as per higher expectations, but due to lack of  knowledge and experience they are also unfit for the job.That said - the unwholesome practice of running universities with inexperienced and unskilled teachers must stop. 

 

Skilled teachers shortage in private universities

Academic institutions are not money-spinning machines run for creating potentially low-quality graduates

The predicament of acute shortage of skilled teachers in our private universities is a long overdue one. According to University Grants Commission (UGC) sources, a number of show-causes have been repeatedly issued against various private universities, pressuring them to recruit quality teachers but however, little did our private universities do to overcome this problem. In fact, many of them continue to run their academic courses without any senior teachers, professors or associate professors. Such careless functioning has indisputably reduced the quality of education at the tertiary level. In a couple of private universities, the teachers shortages have become so severe that the UGC has recommended the Ministry of Education to shut them down. At least 11 private universities are run without any senior teachers at all. More alarmingly, most of these universities have so far, deliberately ignored the UGCs repeated warning and requests for employing experienced senior teachers. Why should these shoddily run institutions not be penalised and shut down? According to news reports, the number of teachers was 15,058 in 2015. Of them, 10,188 were full-time teachers and 4,870 part-time teachers. However, among the full-time teachers, the numbers of professors were only 708, while 564 were associate professors, 2,178 were assistant professors, and 6,512 were lecturers. Coupled with the dearth of senior teachers another noticeable hazard is that the average career-span of most senior teachers in our private universities is too short. The reason behind the short-stay must also be addressed. The UGC is reported to have not the power to take stern steps against such universities and, hence, is seeking the cooperation of the government to take appropriate measures. If so, the government must right away address the issue in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the courts and the law enforcement agencies. This dilemma should not be allowed to continue for the academic benefits of our students. Furthermore, our concerned education authorities must discourage such poorly formed universities from introducing new subjects and programmes. The fact is, we cannot and should not expect responsible and intelligent students from these private academic institutions run by sub-standard teachers. Our private university authorities must realise that poor qualified teachers are not only unable to teach and guide as per higher expectations, but due to lack of knowledge and experience they are also unfit for the job.That said - the unwholesome practice of running universities with inexperienced and unskilled teachers must stop.