E-Paper
Scarcity of qualified teachers at HBTI
STUDENTS AT the (HBTI will have to face scarcity of qualified teachers during the current academic session as vacancies of teachers could not be filled due to legal complexities.
STUDENTS AT the (HBTI will have to face scarcity of qualified teachers during the current academic session as vacancies of teachers could not be filled due to legal complexities.
Although the institute had advertised the vacant posts twice during the past two years the interviews of the candidates could not be held due to stay orders obtained by members of the Teachers Association on the grounds that first they be promoted through departmental promotions so that they could also apply for the posts of senior teachers.
Though there is a scarcity of permanent teachers in all the disciplines the IT Department is the worst sufferer, as it has no permanent faculty. Over 30 per cent posts of teachers at the institute are lying vacant for years. Earlier, it was the government that did not allow filling up of the posts. Now it was the legal battle between teachers and the institute management which was hampering the appointment process. There are over 40 teachers employed on the honorarium basis at the institute. On August 10, the institute appointed nine more teachers on a fixed honorarium to teach the students of IT and computer science.
One would be surprised to learn that the HBTI was selected under the Technical Education Programme of the World Bank and it has received sufficient grants to update the teaching system. And yet it has failed to appoint qualified teachers on permanent basis due to the ongoing legal battle between the teachers and the management.
According to Dr RP Singh, Director of HBTI, permanent teachers were the first requisite for quality education as they could be held responsible for the poor results. He said, “Though we have appointed qualified teachers on honorarium basis there is no guarantee that they will continue here for a long period. The day they get better jobs they will leave the institute putting the students in trouble.”
