Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) led a protest against the lack of guest lecturers and classes in Maharani Cluster University.
Students of the government-run Maharani Cluster University complained about lack of a principal, guest lecturers and classes. Guest faculties do not take classes and go on strike because they don’t get paid regularly. This leads to two or more hours of free classes in a day. Over 60 students took part in this protest.
Harshita, a student from the university said, “We need teachers to conduct classes as we only have subjects like economics and sociology that are taught on a regular basis.” She added, “We are here to study, we require more teachers and it’s not right to just have two the whole day, we can’t learn anything if this is the case.”
L. Gomathi Devi, Vice chancellor, Maharani Cluster University, said, “We haven’t had a principal since four years. The strength of the regular faculty is less and the guest faculty are on strike thus several classes are not happening.”
Devamma. S, another student said, “Today, like the other days we only had one class which was economics. The humanities department has barely a class or two throughout the day and teachers arrive late. There is no proper timetable. The university offers courses that need specialization in the field. The guest faculty that are specialized do not turn up at all. It has been over four months.”
Soumya, another student said, “The principal of this university knew of this issue but had not taken any action.”
As per National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) rules, there should be seven full time teachers in each education degree college with an intake of 100 students. Maharani Cluster University has 4200 students.
Dr. Rajeshwari, a sociology professor said, “Regular faculty takes classes on a regular basis but the problem is with guest faculty as they have gone on strike for salary issues with the government.”
Ravi Koppal, a professor from RV College of Engineering said, “In any instance if the teachers are few in number, the students will have a difficult time conversing with teachers to understand basic subject related concepts and ideas.” He added, “Since it is for degree courses, students need to have teachers specialized in their field such that clarity in subjects will be there.”
