According to an RTI application filed by the directorate of technical education revealed that professional colleges in Tamil Nadu are facing shortage of faculty. The data further revealed that mere four out of 10 government engineering universities have full time principals while 17 out of 41 government polytechnics don’t. Nearly 50 percent of the teachers’ posts are lying vacant in government engineering and polytechnics colleges. As against a sanctioned strength of 50 professors, there are just 33 professors in 10 engineering colleges with shortage of 130 assistant professors. In case of polytechnics, as against a sanctioned strength of 141, there are mere 7 heads of department with 993 posts of lecturers lying vacant.
As per the All India Council for Technical Education rules, it is mandatory to maintain a1:15 teacher-student ratio in engineering colleges and 1:20 for polytechnics. However, the scenario is completely different as government colleges in Tamil Nadu hardly follow the stated norms. Dr. V Balusamy, member of Association of University Teachers stated that academic excellence is sure to falter with the hourly appointed faculties in colleges. Balusamy added that there has been a marginal decrease in the number of engineering students pursuing teaching as a profession. Courses like mechanical and civil are the worst hit as students graduating from these branches are hired by industries.
