Mangaluru: Govt first-grade colleges across the state are facing a severe faculty shortage as the appointment of guest lecturers remains uncertain. The contracts of the guest faculty from the last academic year ended on Aug 2.

For instance, first-grade colleges under Mangalore University commenced classes in the last week of July. Colleges have reported not receiving any official communication regarding the reappointment of guest faculty. While some institutions have former guest lecturers volunteering to conduct classes willingly, others depend on postgraduate students to teach undergraduate courses.

Jayakar Bhandary, principal, Dr P Dayananda Pai-P Satisha Government First Grade College, Carstreet, Mangaluru, said that the college, which has over 1,000 students, requires many guest faculty members.

“We are lucky that some of our former guest faculty are taking classes without expecting any payment, just out of goodwill and concern for the students. Additionally, some PG students are taking classes for UG students during their free hours,” he said.

Some colleges have utilised their College Development Fund and sought assistance from donors. Bhaskar Shetty, principal of GFGC, Barkur, said that due to the lack of alternatives, they have re-hired former guest faculty and provided a small honorarium from the development funds.

“Several government colleges have adopted innovative measures to maintain decent student strength, but their efforts are being undermined by the delayed appointment of guest faculty,” a source said.

A principal said, “There is already no demand for UG courses in govt colleges, and students are switching to alternative courses. Not appointing faculty on time will further jeopardise the system in the coming days with poor enrolment across the state.” Another principal stated that the majority of the workload in colleges under the department of collegiate education is handled by guest faculty in several colleges across the state. “Without them, the colleges will be able to finish only 50% of the syllabus at the end of each semester,” the principal added.

A month ago, the DCE announced that the process would commence after regular transfers; however, there has been no progress. N Manjushree, commissioner, DCE, was unavailable for comment.