Attracting Talent to Teaching

RAJYA SABHA

The Eleventh Five Year Plan envisages increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 15 per cent of the population in the age cohort group of 18-24 years by 2011-12. This requires a substantial increase in the number of institutions and consequently would require an adequate number of teachers for imparting education. Failure to redress the faculty shortage would hamper the achievement of the targets for increase in GER set out by Government. The Government has taken measures to attract talent into the academic profession by liberalizing pay and other incentives at levels higher than that provided to the All India Civil Services (Group ‘A’) at the entry stage. The age of superannuation has been increased to 65 years for persons engaged in teaching in higher education institutions. The Government has constituted a Task Force under Prof. Sanjay Dhande, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to assess the existing faculty shortage and the requirement of quality faculty in technical, professional and University education considering the need to achieve the targeted GER in the remaining period of the Eleventh Plan and the Twelfth Plan and to suggest remedial policies and other measures to meet the estimated shortfalls in quality faculty.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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