Agartala: Several organisations representing guest lecturers in Tripura’s higher education sector on Saturday warned of a deepening teacher shortage in the state’s colleges and urged the government to adopt long-term measures to plug the gap. At a general meeting called by the Tripura Atithi Adhyapak Sangha, affiliated to the Tripura NET, SLET, PhD Forum, members demanded regularisation of guest lecturers who meet eligibility criteria and broader policy reforms to ensure stable faculty strength across institutions.
Citing University Grants Commission (UGC) norms on teacher–student ratios, the groups said Tripura needs about 2,413 assistant professors to staff its 28 general degree colleges, five professional colleges and seven technical colleges adequately. Presently, they said, the state has only 507 assistant professors in total — 449 in general degree colleges and the remainder in professional and technical institutions — a shortfall highlighted during the recently concluded Assembly session.
The organisations referred to figures shared by the Higher Education Minister in the Assembly showing that of 683 sanctioned posts in government degree colleges, 234 are vacant. There are additionally 26 vacancies in professional colleges and 43 in technical institutions, bringing the total number of vacant teaching posts to 306, they said.
Academic work is being sustained largely through 732 guest lecturers engaged across colleges, but the groups alleged that only about 150 of these meet the UGC-prescribed eligibility — typically NET, SLET or a PhD — as set out in 2019 guidelines. They warned that appointing underqualified guest faculty would violate those norms and still leave overall faculty numbers far below the required strength even when combined with regular appointees.
Key demands from the meeting included immediate regularisation of long-serving guest lecturers who possess the required qualifications and creation of additional posts under a “state-aided assistant professor” category, modelled on similar arrangements in other states, to bridge vacancies. The organisations also called for the removal of Tripura’s 40-year upper age limit for assistant professor appointments, noting that central universities do not impose such an age cap.
Separately, the Guest Lecturer Karmachari Sangha urged the government to frame a clear, permanent policy for guest lecturers to end uncertainty and the need for repeated selection drives at the close of each academic session. The groups said they will continue pressing the state government for a structured, sustainable mechanism to ensure adequate, qualified staffing in Tripura’s colleges.
Original Source: https://nenow.in/north-east-news/tripura/tripura-guest-lecturers-flag-faculty-shortage-seek-regularisation-and-policy-reforms.html
Category: Northeast News,Top News,Tripura
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Publish Date: 2026-03-29 07:29:00
