Srinagar, June 1: Around half a dozen Government Degree Colleges in Kashmir are without permanent principals while more than 1000 posts of assistant professors are vacant in the Higher Education Department (HED). This scenario is hampering the functioning in the colleges besides taking a toll on the academics of the students.
“The department has assigned the charge of principal for these colleges to the senior most faculty members of the respective institutions,” an official said.
The dearth of the teaching staff in many colleges has become a cause of worry for the students. As per the figures, around 3600 teaching positions have been sanctioned in the Government Degree Colleges across J&K of which around 1000 are vacant since long.
The official said: “Under the rationalization process around 29 assistant professors were transferred from GDC Pulwama but no one was sent as their replacement.”
Some assistant professors from Kashmir colleges were shifted to Samba, Kuthua, Baderwah, Doda and other areas of Jammu division which was “unprecedented”, the official said.
“The irony is that no one from these areas was transferred to Valley colleges to fill the gap. The much hyped rationalization disturbed the functioning of the college and resulted in chaos,” he said.
The colleges authorized to offer PG courses are also facing dearth of teaching staff. “The Government Boys Degree College Baramulla has no teaching faculty for the PG courses,” the official said. “Only one teaching faculty is deputed to the college from Dangiwacha Degree College. Students are suffering due to the death of teaching staff,” an official said.
In wake of this, the Civil Society Baramulla has appealed to the secretary, HED, to provide permanent teaching staff to PG department of Mathematics in GDC Boys Baramulla.
Secretary HED, Sushma Chauhan when contacted said the department has already referred posts of assistant professors to J&K Public Service Commission. “The college principals have been directed to engage teaching staff on contract basis or as guest faculty as per their requirement. We have already issued the criteria of the selection of guest faculty or the academic arrangement on contract basis,” she said.
She said the vacancies of principals will be filled very soon. “A proposal has already been made but we want to fill these posts in such a manner that it should not disturb the other colleges,” she said.