Four months after 398 new courses were started in the 51 government colleges across the State, college heads have complained there are few, and in some cases, no faculty to teach the courses.
The courses were introduced by the State government to increase job prospects and skills of students in government colleges. The Chief Minister had inaugurated them via tele-conference. Among the courses, many relate to computer science, statistics, electronics, tourism, business English, bio-sciences, defence studies and visual communication.
As per records, in most colleges, there are at least 20 students enrolled in each of these new courses. Government officials say the recruitment of teachers is under way with the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) verifying the certificates of the candidates in every zone.
However, college heads are worried over the delay, considering only one in ten sanctioned posts for the new courses has been filled till now.
In many cases, no teachers have been recruited for certain courses. For instance, Dr. Ambedkar Arts College in Vyasarpadi has no faculty for the nutrition sciences, defence studies and visual communication courses that commenced recently.
M. Ravichandran, vice-president, All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation, said the unique programme of the State government could serve its purpose of serving students from poor backgrounds only if it appoints teachers immediately. “A semester has gone by without teachers. This is not good for students, especially in the first semester.”
The Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers’ Mandram members said they had written to higher education officials several times, seeking their immediate intervention.
Members of the association have suggested the government consider transfer requests received from teachers who wish to be posted to teach these courses.
“Instead of waiting for the recruitment to begin, the government can give us permission to use the services of experienced teachers who are willing to teach the subjects in other colleges,” said R. Moorthy, general secretary of the association.
