Fill teacher vacancies, else lose grants: UGC tells education institutions

If institutions comply, over 200,000 jobs would be created in six months

In a strict missive to Vice Chancellors of all universities, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked higher education institutions (HEIs) in India to fill up all teacher vacancies in the next six months.

The UGC has issued detailed guidelines and the process timeline to all universities, colleges, and deemed-to-be universities to fill up teacher vacancies. The HEIs who fail to comply with these guidelines could lose UGC grants.

“Violations of the guidelines may lead to appropriate action by the UGC against the institutions, including withholding the grants,” the central funding institution said in the letter.

“The overall faculty vacancy in Indian HEIs could be as high as 200,000,” said R Subrahmanyam, secretary, higher education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

“It is expected that the number of vacancies would be not less than 200,000 in all managements together,” Subrahmanyam told Business Standard. However, the exact number is not yet known, and would be known only after the data is entered by HEIs in the specified portal, he said.

If followed by all HEIs, this could be the biggest vacancy fill-up in higher education in India, facilitating job creation in the education sector.

The HEIs need to upload vacancy and details on reserved faculty posts on a specified portal (nherc.in). From identification of vacancy, the six-month process includes getting permission from MHRD and UGC, publishing advertisements, constitution and meetings of selection committees, scrutiny of applications, and final filling up of posts.

“Shortage of quality teaching faculty in HEIs is one amongst the many issues presently confronting the higher education system in the country. This is also affecting the quality of higher education,” the UGC said.