Why slow in hiring professors of practice, Maharashtra govt asks universities, ETEducation
Mumbai: The state govt will seek written clarification from public universities for not appointing a sufficient number of Professors of Practice (PoPs) over the past three years. While universities are expected to fill 10% of their sanctioned teaching posts with PoPs, most have not appointed more than five. Established universities such as Savitribai Phule Pune University and Nagpur University have not hired any PoPs, while Mumbai University and Tilak Maharashtra University are the only institutions to have appointed five each. Of the 15 universities that responded to a govt’s survey, only 30 PoPs have been appointed so far.Sources in the higher education department said six varsities—Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Nagpur University, Marathwada University, Gadchiroli University, Amravati University, and Solapur University—have not hired a single PoPs from the industry so far, claiming the process is “underway”, even though over three years have passed since the directive was issued.
Public universities in Nanded and Jalgaon have hired four PoPs each. A senior official, though, said the University Grants Commission (UGC) had not only issued guidelines for engaging PoPs in universities and colleges, but also a directive in a separate letter issued in Sept 2022. The letter mentioned higher education institutions (HEIs) are expected to integrate general education with vocational, in the context of holistic and multidisciplinary education, as recommended in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It added the HEIs need people with skills and expertise acquired in non-academic careers, in teaching and research. Vice-chancellors and principals were asked to take necessary steps to engage such PoPs.
A source from the department said many public universities have not been doing well in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), with SPPU’s performance seeing a sharp decline in the last edition, from rank 37 to 91 in the overall category.
When contacted, Shailendra Deolankar, director, higher education, said the state govt has taken serious cognisance of the PoP issue and decided to seek a written clarification from the universities for not complying with UGC norms. While the universities always complain about the govt not not filling teaching posts, this was a measure that they were expected to take up at their level, he said. “From the perspective of the NEP 2020, appointment of Professors of Practice was mandatory for the universities to bridge the industry-academia gap in university education. The idea of having these professors was to ensure that students benefit directly from the vast, real-world experience of industry professionals,” said Deolankar.
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