IITs and Faculty Crunch, the Same Old Story Continues!

The wide gap between the students-faculty ratios in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is a big concern, considering most aspirants taking admission in these institutes. According to studies, for more than 60000 students, these IITs have 4500 teachers, which is surely a cause to worry. According to the HRD Ministry, the recommended student-teacher ratio for the IITs is only 10 students per teacher (10:1).

Reasons behind the shortage of teachers in these institutes include lack of incentives, extensive recruitment process, strict guidelines etc. The situation will get grave if the solutions are not worked upon. This wide gap needs to be filled and looked after well as soon as possible.

The possible solutions to these problems can be-

1. Improved remunerations
2. Increasing the retirement age
3. Hiring retired teachers on a contractual basis
4. Relaxing guidelines for hiring Indian as well foreign nationals as faculty members

It is clear that with shortage of teachers, IITs cannot make any significant impact on trained manpower needs of the industry. Undoubtedly, IITs have occupied a space of uncritical admiration. However, it looks like they are struggling with the same problems of proper infrastructure.

Recently, the government decided to increase the seat intakes at IITs by five percent in 2022. However, this decision has been opposed by older IITs due to the lack of proper infrastructure. On the other hand, if these institutes are planning to expand, student-faculty ratio should then be looked after to ensure the overall development.