When the Higher Education department has been claiming appointment of faculty members to improve the quality of education in colleges, a four-decade-old government-run college in Koraput is functioning with just six permanent teachers.
Koraput Government College, earlier known as DAV College, in Landiguda under Koraput NAC caters to both degree and junior students of the area and is affiliated to Berhampur University.
Even in the absence of faculty members, the quality of education has gone for a toss. The college was established in 1968 by Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College Management Committee in collaboration with Education Development Society of Koraput. It was taken over by the Government of Odisha in 1982 and expanded to offer BA and MA degrees.
In Koraput Government College (degree), at least 33 lecturer positions against the sanctioned 39 are vacant in 14 BA (Bachelor of Arts) and two Post-Graduation (PG) departments. The college offers teaching in Arts (282 seats), Physical Science (123 seats), Biological Science (88 seats), Commerce (141 seats) and Self-financing (35 seats) courses.
According to reports, there are only six regular lecturers, including an in-charge principal. Interestingly, the college has had no regular principal for the last 16 years. No regular faculty member has been posted in departments such as English, Odia, Economics, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Computer Science for the last one decade. Each of the departments like Commerce, History, Political Science and Education is managed by single faculty members.
The college offers two PG courses in Education and Odia and each of the two departments has sanctioned posts of two. However, the two departments, with a total enrolment of 96 PG students, have only one regular faculty member now. Sources said the degree college is being managed by 19 guest faculty members and eight ad hoc lecturers for a total of 1,661 Plus Three students, who are currently enrolled in the college. In the current academic session of 2016-17, about 81 seats in all the five streams have remained vacant. As far as non-teaching posts are concerned, against the sanctioned seven, four posts are vacant. Eight laboratory assistant and demonstrator posts are vacant in Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany laboratories against the sanctioned nine posts each for the last eight years. Two librarian posts are vacant against three sanctioned posts for the last 12 years.
The situation is no different in its Plus Two College (Koraput Government Junior College) that functions on the same campus. No principal has been appointed since the junior college was started in 2001. Against the sanctioned 22 faculty posts at Plus Two level, four posts are vacant. Although students of both the colleges have staged demonstrations several times in the past demanding appointment of faculty members, the Higher Education department is yet to pay heed.
“The degree college will next year celebrate its golden jubilee and it is disturbing to see that it is being manned by guest faculty members,” said alumni of the college, Sarat Patnaik. The issue has also been brought to the notice of Higher Education Minister Pradeep Panigrahi.