Government clears way for teacher appointments
Appointing people on a temporary basis to government service posts, even when PSC rank lists are in force, is not new. In fact, there has long been criticism that this shortcut method is followed in almost all departments. It is against this backdrop of complaints that the government has now decided to report 90 vacancies of Assistant Professor posts in government colleges to the PSC and to create 48 new posts in Arts and Science colleges. This decision comes as a lotter-like opportunity for postgraduate degree holders aspiring to become college teachers and for candidates already included in PSC rank lists. A government college teaching job offers a good salary and benefits, and entry without paying any donation is a long-cherished dream for many. At a time when appointments in aided colleges are said to involve donations of over Rs 1 crore per post, the government’s move has raised big hopes among PSC candidates who have been waiting patiently for appointments.
On January 5, Kerala Kaumudi had published a report prepared by our correspondent Sujilal KS, highlighting the lack of appointments even as the PSC rank lists for Assistant Professor posts in various subjects are set to expire by the end of February. It was in the backdrop of that report, which also exposed the weakness of the Higher Education Department’s claim that there were no vacancies in many subjects, that the government decided to report 90 vacancies to the PSC. The report had pointed out that while officials claimed there were no vacancies in subjects like Islamic History and Urdu, where not a single candidate has been appointed so far from the rank lists, an RTI reply revealed that there were actually 39 vacancies. The current decision is to report the remaining 90 vacancies after the redistribution of surplus Assistant Professor posts.
Among the various subjects, the PSC rank list for Economics is the first to expire, with its validity ending on the 27th of this month. If appointments are not made before that, the government may have to intervene to extend the validity of the list. Speeding up appointment procedures from rank lists that are nearing expiry would benefit many candidates. Due to the discontinuation of the MPhil programme and the removal of additional weightage earlier given to PG courses, the teaching workload in many Arts and Science colleges has reduced. The department found that this resulted in 361 surplus teaching posts without adequate workload. Of these, 151 teachers across 18 subjects are to be redeployed to other colleges.
The vacancies remaining after this redeployment will be reported to the PSC. In addition, 48 new posts have been created for courses approved in 2020–21. Among these newly created posts, English, Geography and Physical Education have 10 posts each. Psychology, Computer Science, Political Science, Electronics and BBA have three posts each. In total, appointments have now been opened up for 138 college teaching posts, including both existing vacancies and newly created posts. What is now required is the urgent implementation of the decision to report the vacancies to the PSC and timely action by the PSC in issuing advice memos to eligible candidates. Today, a respectable government job is no less than a lottery win. Let us hope that candidates will not be disappointed again due to delay and inaction after being given such expectations.