Masters students double up as college teachers

Finding quality teachers is increasingly becoming a tough task in engineering colleges across the state. The issue took centre stage on Tuesday when Teachers Day was celebrated across the city. The common point of discussion was the importance of good teachers in all educational institutions. However, there are many educational institutions in the state that still do not have qualified professors to teach students. 

Rohit (name changed on request) was the class topper in ECE. Although good in academics, he did not get placed during the college placements. His mentor suggested that he could teach in the same college, while pursuing his Masters in the same college. The story of Suresh is no different. After finishing his Chemical engineering and enrolling for masters, he is now part of the civil engineering department faculty.  

According to the Correspondent of an engineering college, “One must have at least a Masters degree to be eligible for the post of Assistant Professor and a Phd to become a professor. To be the head of the department, one must have over 15 years of experience.” He also points out that most colleges are not in a position to hire qualified professors. “The financial crisis in most of the colleges are strained and hiring a Phd holder would be completely beyond their budget. There are more than 500 engineering colleges in the state, with over one lakh vacant seats. At a time when colleges are finding it difficult to fill seats, they do not have the funds to employee teachers with the right qualification. The top 100 colleges however have professors with the right qualification enrolled in the system.” 

The pay parity among professors between reputed colleges and lesser-known colleges is wide. While the smaller colleges pay only Rs 10,000 to Assistant Professors, the salary is Rs 15,000 for Associate Professors. The seniors draw Rs 30,000 a month. When it comes to reputed colleges, an Assistant Professor is paid Rs 50,000 and above. A senior Professor gets Rs 1 lakh and above.

Educationists point out there are only 10-15 students in every department in some of the colleges. Here, one teacher teaches more than one subject. There are no lab assistants and often, a professor has to do their work too. In many engineering colleges, it is the Masters students who teach in undergraduate classes. 

“There are not many takers for Masters in engineering these days. In most of the colleges, students pursuing their Masters do not even have to attend the class. The former students only conduct regular classes for the undergraduate students,” says an educationist. 

A teacher not only plays an important part in building a student, but also imparting life skills. “Anyone joining the profession must have the passion for teaching. Usually what happens is the job market plays a deciding factor. After graduation, many of those who do not get the jobs they want opt for postgraduate courses, points out M Sekar, former Dean, College of Engineering, Guindy and president of the alumni association. He further talks about the importance of training teachers who deal with the first-year undergraduate students, as they need some guidance as they enter into the new world. 

The situation is similar in Arts and Science colleges. The Tamil Nadu State Eligibility Test (TN SET) is conducted to determine the eligibility of aspirants to the post of Assistant Professor in Tamil Nadu universities and colleges. Most of the self-financed colleges do not adhere to this rule. Some even hint at corruption in appointments. Madras University Teachers Association (MUTA). President of MUTA, G. Ravindran says, “If proven that the college affiliated to Madras University is not adhering to the norms, action will be taken against the institution.”