You can’t shop for teachers | The Indian Express

You can’t shop for teachers | The Indian Express

Written by Shobhit Mahajan |Updated: September 26, 2019 11:04:18 am

The writer is professor of physics and astrophysics, University of Delhi

You can’t shop for teachers

Massive recruitment of teachers in Delhi University and focus on world rankings are myopic moves that are symptomatic of a larger crisis in higher education

The vast majority of positions in the colleges are already being staffed by teachers who are oddly termed as ad-hoc, though they teach as much, and sometimes, more than the regular faculty. (Illustration: C R Sasikumar)

The University of Delhi is reportedly set to finish recruitment of more than 5,000 teachers very soon. And no, that astonishing number is not a typographical error. There are about 4,500 vacant positions in the 80 odd colleges under the University and around 850 positions in the faculties of the University. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, for reasons best known to them, had ordered the University to fill these positions within six months.