The State Government “in a hurry” has instructed 39 government degree colleges in the State to offer postgraduate courses from the academic year 2011-12.
Sources in the Department of Collegiate Education and some government colleges told The Hindu that the government's decision had landed some colleges in trouble as they were facing dearth of qualified teachers and infrastructure particularly to teach science subjects.
They said that the government had taken the decision in a hurry in late May, 2011. It issued three letters, one in May and two in July, with details of post-graduate subjects meant to be opened in 39 colleges.
Universities in the State normally invite applications from colleges for affiliation of courses in January. The government's instruction to colleges to submit applications came much later leaving them without much time to deliberate.
As a sequel to the three letters, a letter by the Director of Collegiate Education on August 1, 2011 to the Regional Office of Joint Director of Collegiate Education, Mangalore, asked principals of seven colleges under the region to “submit applications for affiliation to the university and admit students in anticipation of the affiliation to the courses''. The letter, a copy of which is available with The Hindu , asked the Joint Director to take steps for providing qualified teachers and infrastructure at the colleges.
The government colleges at Kushalnagar, Vitla, Bantwal, Hebri, Karkala, Uppinangady and Barkur have been instructed to open the postgraduate colleges. The college at Barkur has been told to open Physics, Mathematics, Psychology, Information Science and Economics. Other colleges have been asked to open either M. A. or M.Com. or both. The college at Vitla has been asked to open MSW also.
Commenting over it president of Association of Mangalore University College Teachers (AMUCT) Ummappa Poojary P told The Hindu that many government colleges lacked qualified permanent teachers and library facilities. He said that if all the colleges opened postgraduate courses without proper facilities it would become nothing but extension of undergraduate courses.
Mr. Poojary, who is also the treasurer of Federation of University and College Teachers' Associations in Karnataka (FUCTAK), said that the government's intension could be to increase enrolment ratio in higher education. If it made the colleges to admit students without appointing qualified teachers, students would be at loss as they might fail to get quality education. A principal of a college said that the government has not yet appointed permanent teachers for new postgraduate subjects opened in some government colleges in the State in 2008-09.
