A report, “Names of over 50,000 teachers figure on rolls of more than one institution” (May 11), on official data from eight major States which shows that over 90 per cent of engineering colleges have at least one teacher whose name also features on the rolls of another college, and that there are at least 50,000 such ‘duplicate’ teachers, needs comment. It appears to make the “sharing” of teachers by several engineering colleges as a criminal act and unbecoming professionally. Far from it.
Specialist doctors practise in several hospitals; their names and their visiting hours are even displayed at all these hospitals. Eminent academicians are visiting professors in more than in one university and even in more than one country. Therefore, why cannot engineering colleges or for that matter any other educational institution, share talented teachers? May be they can have different remuneration contracts but there is nothing wrong about this. Just as rules and laws made by governments are exploited by those who apply them for personal benefit by corruption, the AICTE rule wrongly criminalises the “sharing” of teachers. It should be withdrawn. College managements should engage the services of academicians in a transparent manner. After all, good teachers go to make the quality of education better.
T.H. Chowdary,Secunderabad
