Removal of PhD as a mandate to hire assistant professors will increase talent pool – Times of India

This announcement coincides with the Central government’s directions to centrally funded higher education institutes (HEIs) to take up the act of filling up vacant teaching positions on a war footing. According to government data, there are more than 6,000 vacant faculty posts across 46 central universities in India. The University of Delhi (DU) is reported to have the highest number of vacancies, with 846 of 1,706 posts still open.

Reason behind the crunch

Tapati Mukhopadhyay, president, Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation, says, “The government had stopped a structured recruitment process for all posts of educationists in universities a few years ago. Since then, a talented pool of educators has been waiting to become a part of the system in vain.”

Why
PhD is essential

Kesab Bhattacharya, president, All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (AIFUCTO), says that a lot of qualities attribute to making a good teacher. “For a person in academia, whether as a student or teacher, a PhD is essential as it expands our knowledge base and keeps the learning loop continue unhindered,” he tells.

Regarding the recruitment of professors, academical excellence is a priority, but accommodations need to be made for non-PhD holders as well. “Experience suggests that young academic professionals, who do not have a PhD contribute much to the teaching and learning process. In addition, they are extremely adaptable to their surroundings,” adds Bhattacharya.

Yogesh Singh, vice-chancellor, DU says that PhD should not be the sole criteria to hire professors. “We have to judge candidates on different qualities, including their teaching abilities and excellence in academics,” he says.

Applicants will increase

Singh says that UGC has introduced the amendment to help universities fill up the vacant positions. “Now that PhD is not a barrier for many hopefuls, a larger group of people will get the opportunity to apply for a teaching position at all centrally funded HEIs,” he tells.

Bhattacharya says that there are cases wherein obtaining a PhD might take time. “Since this affects their eligibility to apply for a post in the world of academia, we might lose out on bright and excellent candidates, as they may decide to shift to other fields or even other countries,” he says. This amendment should help us retain talent, he says.

Mukhopadhyay adds that there are few subjects where getting a PhD is difficult due to a variety of reasons, which may lead to even excellent candidates getting left out of the talent pool. “The recruitment process needs to be our prime concern and an ongoing process. Professors who have been recruited can get a PhD even after they have joined an HEI,” she says.

Recruitments may be affected

“Since the talent pool will increase, universities will have more options. However, whether this will lead to a change in the current faculty crunch is yet to be seen,” says Singh.

Presenting a different opinion, Bhattacharya says that with an increase in the talent pool, the responsibility will fall on HEIs to fill the vacant teaching positions. “I believe this will bring about a change for the better at universities across the nation,” he says.