Despite a very miserable faculty position with teacher-student ratio pegged at as low as 1:100, the Ravenshaw University here is planning to introduce three new subjects at PG level from this academic year.
The university Vice Chancellor BC Tripathy on Friday announced that at least 32 students in Sanskrit, 24 in Statistics and another 36 students can pursue two-year PG courses in International Relations in the varsity from this year.
Apart from these new PG courses, the varsity would take eight more students to take up full-time M Phil programme in life Science and the varsity would run a part-time MBA course of its own from the current academic year, the VC said, addressing media persons in the campus on Friday.
Tripathy, however, found it extremely uncomfortable when media men drew his attention towards the poor faculty positions in the university. The new PG and M Phil courses need at least 25 more teachers to run the show. But the show must go on, the VC seems to suggest no matter how or what the students would study.
The UGC has suggested for ratio of 1:4 for PG courses and 1:10 for UG courses. But ever since the famous institution was upgraded to a university in 2006, the State Government sanctioned a meager 153 posts of teachers to man its 28 UG and PG departments with a combined strength of 8,000 students. But what is more pathetic is that the varsity authorities have managed to recruit only 80 teachers out of the sanctioned strength of 153 during the past seven years and 73 posts are lying vacant till date.
Prior to 2006, the erstwhile Ravenshaw (autonomous) College had at least 252 teachers to take care of only 6,000 students. During those days, at least each department was having a Professor to head the department.
But now as many as 22 of the 28 PG departments of the varsity are running without Professors and there are certain departments which run the show solely with guest and visiting faculties.
Admitting the situation, the VC informed that he had approached the Government for sanctioning 161 more posts of teachers. “We have approached the Government and are yet to get any reply,” Tripathy said.