Pupil-teacher ratio in higher education worrying.Despite having registered a slight improvement over the past few years, the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) in higher education institutions of Gujarat is a cause of worry.
The latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2018-19 states that with a PTR of 24, Gujarat ranks 26th among 36 states and Union territories of the country.
PTR is measured as the average number of students per teacher at a specific level of education in a given academic year.
Government sources admit that there has not been any recruitment of lecturers and professors in the past three or four years.
The process of recruiting professors is also cumbersome and lengthy.
It involves issuing advertisements, conducting written tests, holding interviews with candidates and finally issuing appointment letters.
According to latest statistics, there are around 2,000 vacancies of professors and lecturers in grant-in-aid colleges of the state alone.
Large scale recruitment has not taken place in grant-in-aid colleges for over a decade, say educationists.
Posts that have fallen vacant because of retirement or death have not been filled either.
Citing instances of the acute shortage of lecturers and professors, an educationist said that Ahmedabad-based Shahjanand College had 46 professors a few years ago. Today, there are just 18 professors, while the number of students has increased. Similarly, R H Patel Commerce College at Vadaj in the city has 2,300 students, with only 23 professors.
Teachers who have been opposing compulsory transfer have something to cheer as Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Friday announced that certain amendments will be made to the transfer rules and implemented from the next academic year.
He has also directed the authorities to change the term “compulsory transfer” to “zonal transfers”.
Among the recommendations, female teachers aged over 50 and male teachers aged over 55 will be exempted from compulsory transfer. Also, a special provision to apply for vacant slots will be made for those teachers who have been transferred under the compulsory transfer rule in 2018-19.
“Special provision for those teachers who were transferred this year will be provided.
They will be given a chance to apply first for the vacancies available before the next transfer process begins,” he explained.
Additional and compulsory transfers of primary school teachers working in C-zones will be first done at taluk level and then at the district level on priority basis.
Similarly, for high school teachers, the transfers will be done at the taluk, district and then at the departmental level.
According to rules, teachers who have worked for 10 years in urban areas, classified as A-zone, will be transferred to semi-urban and rural areas (B and C zones).
Teachers who have served for at least 15 years in C-zone will be exempted from zonal transfers.
Along with this, an exemption from transfers will be given to parents of special children.
