‘Talented teachers bank’ mooted for higher education sector

Nearly 40 per cent of the faculty positions in universities in the country remain vacant for want of well-qualified and experienced teachers. To tide over the problem, M. Abdul Salam, Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University, has proposed the setting up of a ‘talented teachers bank’ (TTB) specifically for higher education.

The higher education sector in the country has more than 700 universities, 35,000 colleges, 20 million students and one million faculty members.

“The main difficulty experienced by universities and colleges today is the inadequacy of good quality teachers to promote excellence in education,” he told Business Line .

Current shortcoming

At present, faculty members such as assistant professors, associate professors and professors are recruited on the basis of their academic qualification, NET (national eligibility test), an interview which may be of half an hour duration, research publications, experience etc. But, it is often noticed that candidates with good academic records, publications or NET qualifications do not possess adequate pedagogic skills and other traits essential for a good teacher, he said.

“Therefore, it is important to develop the faculty in a manner that will meet the real purpose. It is time the University Grants Commission and the Union government thought of developing a TTB and creating an attractive cadre namely Indian Education Service.

Selection process

For developing a pool of quality teachers, the selection process should start from the graduation level. Students with excellent academic and pedagogic skills may be shortlisted during the final year of graduation and trained while they are doing higher studies. These shortlisted students need to be provided with scholarships and allowed to do their masters in the same subject in the subsequent years.

Concurrently, they may be given adequate teaching opportunity and training to become excellent teachers. The successful students based on student ratings at the masters level will again be provided with scholarships for continuing their doctoral studies in the same subject, simultaneously providing teaching opportunities.

Those students having secured high ratings and excellent pedagogic skills should be inducted in to IES and deployed appropriately under the UGC sponsored faulty positions. This will help develop excellent teachers and invigorate the higher education sector, Abdul Salam said.