Students’ academic performance is being affected due to the absence of guest lecturers in Hungund taluk.
Despite a five-month long protest that was called off in January ,only few guest lecturers have rejoined the only college in Hungund.. After Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) Siddaramaiah offered them another hike in their monthly salary, the professors withdrew their strike. But still, after almost two months of the promise, even the basic pending salaries of the teachers have not been paid.
The guest faculty members of the only degree college in Hungund Taluk complain of no job security, delayed salaries, untimely transfers, and no recognition or pension by the governmentMallikarjun Gowdar, who has been teaching at the Hungund Government College for the last decade, said, “Many guest lecturers have to relocate to a new place every year because they are transferred very often. There is no security for them, even in terms of insurance and pension,nothing is given by the government. Even professors who have been working in the same college since the last decade have not been recognized as permanent faculty. We have not even received even our basic pay for the last five to six months.”
He added that because the lecturers are not satisfied with their role and treatment, many of them are not very interested in teaching the students.
For the 2023–24 batches, the college has almost 1,800 students studying various subjects. Opposite to the student number, the college has only 46 professors, out of which only seven are permanent faculty, including the principal and rest are guest faculty members. There has been no recruitment of permanent staff since the start of COVID.
The principal of the college, Suresh , said that after the strike, a few teachers are back, while others haven’t resumed their services. For many core subjects, only one or two classes are held in a week; therefore, they have to manage the schedule by adding more general knowledge classes. He also mentioned that for the last decade, there have been no permanent principals appointed for the college; only acting principals have been appointed.
According to the principal and professors, the placement rate of the college is the lowest compared to other colleges in Bagalkot.
Mumtaz, a student of Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA), said, “Not many regular classes were held before the strike; the lectures are constantly shuffled, and there is no fixed schedule on most days. Most students of our college generally prepare for government exams in the neighbouring taluks or districts by taking private coaching classes. They only come here to give examinations.”
She added that even getting marksheets and other documents is very difficult for students. This is due to the to the inexperience of faculty members in handling newer technologies.
Suresh added that there are computer labs, but only a few guest faculty members know how to operate them.“Now that there are no faculty members who are good at handling and teaching computer, the lab is usually left unused.”
The officials at the department of higher education in Bagalkot said that this problem is spreading throughout the state. They said the state government has been dealing with problems, and they act per the orders given to them.
In November 2023, guest lecturers from around the state staged a protest against the government, demanding better facilities for them.
In January this year, the CM offered a hike in the basic salary of guest lecturers by Rs 5,000 for guest lecturers with less than five years of experience, Rs 6,000 for those with five to ten years of experience, Rs 7,000 for 10-15 years of experience, and Rs 8,000 for those with more than 15 years of experience.
Although Karnataka CM clearly mentioned that the guest lecturers would not be made permanent, which was the main demand of the protest.
Nitin Sharma, professor of public policy at Maharashtra institute of Technology (MIT) said, “A holistic policy is needed in which the needs of these teachers are taken care of along with the financial considerations should be adopted. government should announce recruitment at right time, in proper transparent way through state service commission.”
