The All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) has urged Manipur Chief Minister N Biren to direct the authorities concerned for declaration of the long pending results of assistant professors for government colleges in the state.
The ATSUM apprised the CM about the acute shortage of teachers in government colleges and to subsequently declare the assistant professors recruitment examination results at the earliest.
The ATSUM recalled that in pursuance of the Department of Higher and Technical Education, the government of Manipur letter No 7(2)/5/2018-HE (VAP) (Pt) dated March 26, 2021 and March 31, 2021, applications were invited for appointment of suitable candidates to 190 (One Hundred Ninety) i.e. (145 + 45-ST special drive) posts of assistant professors on contract basis for the government colleges of Manipur.
After due screening of academic credentials and suitability of the applied candidates strictly in compliance with UGC norms and criteria, a list of the shortlisted candidates for the same was furnished online through notification vide No 3/3-116/2018-UHE dated August 23, 2021 of the Directorate of University and Higher Education, Government of Manipur, and interview schedule was also given thereof, ATSUM stated.
Accordingly, interviews for the said posts began on September 3, 2021 and were completed on September 21, 2021. The shortlisted candidates gave their interview in front of the Board of Interview comprising the Commissioner of Education, Director (Higher Education), Additional Director (Higher Education), concerned-subject experts and so on, it added.
Subsequently, the Secretariat: Higher & Technical Education Department, on June 23, 2022 declared that the recruitment process for the subject matter of 190 (one hundred ninety) Assistant Professors for various subjects on a contractual basis is nearing completion and have been referred to Department of Personnel as per the required procedure for declaration of result.
Further, it is learned that after completion of the recruitment process, approval for the declaration of results of 190 Assistant Professor recruitment was sought from the Government by the Department on November 25, 2021. However, the result is yet to be declared till today even after a span of almost one and a half years of deferring the matter to DP for procedural completion.
This apathetic attitude of the Government in delaying the declaration of results is highly questionable as most of the government colleges are functioning with a dearth of teachers, the ASTUM stated.
It also stated that it is a well-known fact that the Higher Education sector of Manipur is witnessing an acute shortage of teaching faculty which is severely affecting the academic career of thousands of students in the state.
The new National Education Policy, 2020 had also pointed out that the presence of an adequate number of teaching faculty will improve the gross enrolment ratio in the higher education sector, thereby, leading to overall socio-economic growth.
It is also pertinent to mention that, the applied candidates have been longing for the result of the said examination to be declared for almost one and half year time while the recruitment results for 1500 Graduate Teacher posts by the Department of Education (S), Government of Manipur was recently out after the recruitment process which started soon after completion of interview of the 190 contract Assistant Professors recruitment.
Delay in the declaration of the said Assistant Professors' examination result has de-motivated as well as defeated the aspirations of the applied candidates and further aggravated the academic problems of the colleges due to the dearth of teaching faculties, ATSUM stated.
ATSUM then adjured the Chief Minister's kind consideration in giving direction to the authority concerned to declare the result of the said recruitment examination at the earliest, thereby, enabling the applied candidates to keep their aspirations intact.
The student body also cautioned that failing to pay heed to the legitimate appeal of declaring the 190 posts of Assistant Professors recruitment results it may be compelled to explore any possible means to ensure that vacant posts of teachers in government colleges are filled before the onset of a new academic session in collaboration with other students' organizations of the state.
