A judicial intervention for quality higher education

The Supreme Court’s order directing all Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to fill all vacant faculty positions within a period of four months is a timely judicial intervention to end the chronic shortages of faculty that have been gripping universities and colleges in India for long. In the last five years, universities have increased by 22%, colleges have increased by 17%, and the Gross Enrollment Ratio has also gone up to nearly 30% of the eligible students in the age group 18-23 years. The SC fixing a narrow window period of four months for filling the vacancy lays bare the crisis of a disproportionate faculty-student ratio, raising questions over the quality of education imparted in HEIs. The apex court’s directive follows an interim report submitted by a National Task Force constituted by it to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent the commission of suicides in HEIs. The SC observed that extremely rigid attendance policies, overburdening and unplanned phasing/scheduling of the academic curriculum, exam assessment methodologies, faculty shortages, vacant teaching posts, excessive reliance on inexperienced guest faculty, non-transparent or non-existent placement processes, etc. were all pointed out as stressors by the responses received by the NTF from students. While observing that vacancies of teaching as well as non-teaching officials in almost all the Higher Educational Institutions/Central Universities are very high vis-a-vis the sanctioned strength, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports also insisted that the existence of vacancies in HEIs, including technical institutions, impacts the faculty-student ratio and dilutes the quality of teaching in such institutions. The SC also directed that the appointment and filling of vacancies of the post of vice chancellor, registrars, and other key institutional/administrative positions must also be made within a period of four months. The parliamentary panel’s emphasis, in this regard, on the importance of a regular, full-time VC in running a university, particularly given their critical role in appointing faculty and non-faculty members and overseeing the implementation of development plans, also needs to be noted by HEI for the smooth conduct of faculty recruitment. The Committee pointed out that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promises that leadership positions in HEIs will not be kept vacant for long periods and that outgoing and incoming Vice-Chancellors will overlap for some time. Ground realities, however, present a gloomy picture of unfulfilled promises. The SC further directed that since the date of retirement is known much ahead in time, recruitment processes must begin well in advance to ensure that such posts do not remain vacant for more than a month, and all HEIs must report on an annual basis to the Central and relevant State Governments as to how many reserved posts are vacant, how many are filled, reasons for non-filling, time taken, etc., so that periodic accountability is ensured. Implementation of this directive will be crucial in abolishing adhocism in faculty recruitment in HEIs and their over dependence on guest faculty and contractual appointments. “Maintaining a robust and efficient workforce is crucial for the effective functioning of higher educational institutions. Timely and strategic filling of vacancies in both teaching and non-teaching positions based on the principles and procedures for a transparent, merit-based, and efficient recruitment process is essential to ensure continuity of academic delivery, administrative efficiency, and overall institutional excellence,” observed the parliamentary committee. The Committee’s recommendation that the Ministry of Education should direct the concerned stakeholders to conduct regular workforce analysis to identify current and future staffing requirements, considering factors like student enrollment, program expansion, faculty retirement, and evolving administrative requirements and academic vision, has got a judicial stamp of approval with SC making annual reporting of faculty strength, vacancy, and recruitment mandatory. As NEP 2020 envisions that all HEIs by 2040 shall aim to become multidisciplinary, autonomous, and self-governing with larger student enrollments; establish at least one large multidisciplinary HEI in or near every district by 2030; achieve a 50% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) by 2035; and phase out the affiliation system in the next 15 years, recruitment of qualified and permanent faculty in the required ratio will be critical to improve the standard of the teaching-learning ecosystem. HEI plays a crucial role in laying the foundation for research and grooming researchers to contribute to the country’s growth in all spheres through quality research work. Apart from fast tracking faculty recruitment, the Committee’s recommendation for providing seed grant facility to the newly recruited faculty at central university and institutions funded by the University Grants Commission to enable top performance by them needs to be prioritised. The central government and state governments earmarking adequate budgetary allocations for higher education will be critical to execute the SC order without any financial hurdles. The Union Budget for 2026-27 can be expected to include policy announcements enabling the HEIs to evolve a dynamic recruitment policy based on the apex court’s order.