Having worked for many years, several engineering teaching faculty in the State are finding themselves out on a limb after being laid off by unaided institutions. The lecturers, who allege that they were not given any notice or reason for the termination of their employment, have written to the Admission Overseeing Committee and the Karnataka Fee Regulatory Committee.
In a letter dated October 29 to both committees, members of the All-India Private Colleges Employees’ Union (AIPCEU) alleged that the decision by private engineering college managements could create unemployment for 7,000 or more qualified and experienced lecturers, which would, in turn, affect students.
K.M. Karthik, founder, AIPCEU, said that in an apparent bid to downsize faculty and maximise profits for management, colleges were taking advantage of a revision in the teacher-student ratio specified by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) this year. While until last year, AICTE had recommended a teacher-student ratio of 1:15, this year it has been revised to 1:20. “Taking the new ratio into consideration, about 7,000 lecturers will lose their jobs. Until now, an estimated 3,500 lecturers have been laid off by colleges across the State, with no justification given to them.” In the 182 unaided engineering colleges in the State, there are 28,000 lecturers. There is no job security for any of them, he said.
He also argued that though the State government hiked the fee for engineering courses by 8% this year, based on expenditure details provided to the Fee Regulatory Committee, there was no way of authenticating details of expenses submitted by managements. “They have showed several people on payroll but have terminated the services of these lecturers. While managements pushed for a fee hike after claiming high expenditure incurred, in reality, they are reducing the number of lecturers, pocketing the profits from the fee hike,” he claimed.
A lecturer with a private engineering college said he was asked to leave in May without notice. “The college did not cite any reason for my termination. At least 10 other lecturers were relieved too. All of us have good feedback from students,” said the lecturer who had joined a year ago after eight years of industry experience.
