India is facing a 30% shortage in professors, even as the number of IITs are increasing As per the government plan, another seven IITs will be established in the coming three years
Despite a drastic reduction in the rate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates leaving the country, IITs across India continue to face an acute shortage of professors; a fact sharply pointed out by Union Human Resources Minister, Prakash Javadekar.
Speaking at the inauguration of Karnataka's first, and the nation's 23rd, IIT, the minister remarked that India was facing a 30% shortage in professors. While the number of IITs continues to increase, the lack of faculty capable of imparting quality technical education is a cause for concern, he added.
Students who study and receive degrees at IITs should focus on contributing to the motherland by working as professors in the same IITs, rather than going abroad in search of greener pastures. The government will offer all required facilities to such faculty, and appropriate salaries will also be paid, Javadekar observed.
To raise India's technical education to a much higher level than present standards, another seven IITs will be established in the coming three years, the minister said, adding that the Union Government would give all possible assistance to Dharwad IIT so that it may carve out a niche for itself.
IITs are autonomous institutes of higher education, governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The first IIT was established in 1951 and Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, addressed the first convocation address of IIT Kharagpur in 1956.
The IITs are said to be facing two-fold problem – (1) Finding quality teachers (2) Retaining the existing faculty.
As per a July 12, 2015, report in the Economic Times, a premier institution like IIT Kharagpur needs 435 more faculty members for the existing student base of over 10,000, considering the ideal ratio of one faculty member for every ten students. Its current faculty strength is 625 while the sanctioned strength is 1,060.
IIT-Mumbai had a shortage of 213 teachers, and the current faculty members are 687; while the scenario is no better in other IITs.
However, at least on the 'brain drain' front, the IITs have seen drastic improvements.
At one point, intellectual losses among the IITs, a.k.a graduates who left the nation immediately after completing their studies, was as high as 70%. That rate was receded substantially from the 1990s, with the percentage dropping to 30% in 2005 - and still falling.
This decline in percentage is due in large part to the liberalisation policy, which not only caused a drastic expansion of the Indian economy but also led to a flood of Foreign Direct Investments, which opened up large avenues for growth.
