Fill 50% teaching posts by March 31 or face action: SPPU

SPPU warns colleges: meet 50% teaching staff by March 31 or lose first-year admissions for 2026-27, aiming to uphold academic standards.

The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) on Monday issued a strict warning to its affiliated colleges, stating that admissions to first-year courses for the academic year 2026–27 will be stopped if institutions fail to meet the minimum requirement of 50 per cent teaching staff.

The move is part of the university’s efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and to maintain academic standards. (HT)

Colleges have been given until March 31 to comply with the requirement, officials said.

Pradeep Koli, deputy registrar, said, “Colleges must understand that maintaining adequate teaching staff is not optional. Institutions that fail to meet the 50 per cent staffing requirement by March 31 will not be permitted to admit first-year students for the 2026–27 academic year.”

The move is part of the university’s efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and to maintain academic standards. The university has also clarified that if, by March 31, the number of approved teachers in any college falls below 50%, admissions to first-year programmes in such institutions will be entirely suspended for the 2026–27 academic year, as decided by the university’s Academic Council.

The directive has been issued under provisions of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, which mandates that affiliated colleges must maintain adequate numbers of qualified teaching and non-teaching staff, as per norms set by the university, state government, University Grants Commission (UGC), and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The decision aims to improve teaching quality, ensure academic accountability, and protect students’ interests, as a large number of colleges currently operate with severe staff shortage, said officials.