Getting a good quality faculty in a school or college is becoming more of a challenge in India these days. The plight of a well known college in New Delhi is not welcoming when it comes to basic amenities required for teachers. In the college there is only a single large room for about 140 teaching staff which acts as a staff room where they can sit down and relax or evaluate examination papers. If 50 per cent of them show up, then the chairs available would not be enough to accommodate them. Teachers do not have any other option other than to adjust. We cannot expect them to work to their full potential under this condition.

Inadequate pay offered to faculty in the country

The inadequate amenities for teachers are not the only problem that needs attention. In most of the cases, teachers with more than 20 years of experience earn an annual income which is less than half of what the better students earn from their first job. For instance Ms. Amin earns about USD 22,000 annually, which is far less than what her best students earn from their first job. The new opportunities available to students offer them mobility and flexibility in addition to attractive salary. This is not the case with majority of faculty across India.

Other reasons

Currently India faces a severe shortage of faculty members. The blame cannot be put on the low compensation packages and inadequate facilities. A report released by the government has observed that the huge expansion in higher education along with poor supply demand of Ph.D.’s, and interruption in recruitment and the lack of incentives to attract and develop talent has resulted in a situation in which about 40 per cent of existing faculty position still remains unfilled. The authors of the report which consists of majority of academicians has found that if the shortage is determined on the basis of class size recommended by the government, then the number jumps to 54 per cent.

Will India miss the target?

According to experts this is a clear signal that the country will not succeed in achieving the goal set by the minister for education, Mr. Kapil Sibal, who is determined to double the size of the higher education system in the country by 2020. They say that even though the goal is admirable, the lack of a long term strategy to develop faculty will come in the way of achieving success. This is a major factor that we failed to analyze closely, says, Chiranjib Sen, who is a professor at Azim Premji University, Bangalore and also one of the authors of the report. He added that the quality of the teachers and sufficient numbers are essential to ensure quality in education. If the government is not in a position to manage the existing institutions, then how is it possible to manage even more institution?

This is an issue faced by many of the premier institutions in India including IITs. Recently, the government has decided to increase the number of IITs from 7 to 15. Also to achieve the quotas for certain disadvantaged groups announced in 2008 the number of students in these institutes has been increased. In the case of IIT Delhi, the number of students has increased from 4800 to 7000, as a consequence of this policy. The norms require that every 10 students should have one faculty and in the case of IIT Delhi, there are only 450 faculty members, which in actual requires 700. The real problem is not with inadequate resources, but with the lack of clear of clear understanding on how institutions can expand and attract faculty.   In the case of research institutions growth happens only slowly. It is a time consuming process, which requires provisions for housing and research facilities for the faculty.

The impact on research

The shortage of faculty in such institutions has a huge impact on the research capabilities and outcomes. Since teachers spend most of their time teaching, it is quite difficult for them to focus on research. Another reason is the lack of students to support the faculty in their research as most of them are interested in pursuing MBA to earn more.

The information technology

The information technology industry in India has enabled a majority of the Indian professionals to earn high salaries. But this has affected the expansion of engineering education in India with the increase in small private engineering colleges contributing to the growth. These colleges are set up with the sole aim of money making and in most of the cases thee faculty members are not qualified to teach. This may further increase the faculty deficit to 80 to 85 per cent.

The responsibility of the government

This forms a part of the big picture of the problems that we face with respect to higher education in India. It is the responsibility of the government to make sure that quality education is provided to students across the country. To ensure that, higher education India should be subsidized. To achieve this, huge investment from the government is required along with help from business organizations who wanted to start higher education institutions in a philanthropic mode. In India the government is the only body that can make sure that education institutions offer quality education to students across the country.

Following good examples

We have to follow good examples from the west and even from China. In the US, the government makes sure that no single student who excels in academics is denied admission. In the case of China, about 6000 engineering professionals secured Ph.D. last year, while it was just 700 in the case of India. In China, the government had directed the government firms to hire more Ph.D.s, which should be followed in India too.

Another good example to be followed from Chinese is the quality. Along with increasing the capacity, they have successfully improved the quality of education in China. They have taken all the steps to ensure that the quality standards are maintained.

According to Mr. Balakrishnan of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India will be able to enroll about 25 per cent of the eligible students in higher education institutions by the end of this decade. There is an increased call from the academia and the industry to increase the quality of education.