Plan panel planning ways to attract talented faculty

The Planning Commission is looking at major 8216;8216;structural changes8217;8217; in the present education system.

The Planning Commission is looking at major 8216;8216;structural changes8217;8217; in the present education system. One of the primary objectives of the exercise would be to work out a long-term policy framework for bringing in talented faculty members to ensure that the quality of education, especially in premier institutes, is not compromised under the government8217;s seat expansion plan.

Official sources in the Commission said while this issue was already under discussion before the students8217; agitation, it has now become the 8216;8216;top priority8217;8217;. It would be incorporated in the approach paper for the 11th Plan beginning 2007 that is currently being finalised by deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Officials said the real worry is not the financial resources but how to attract talented faculty into the education system from the corporate sector which offers better salaries. In that regard, while monetary incentives is one of the options, the present thinking is to finetune existing departments along with entering into deals for both faculty and for housing of students.

Ahluwalia, while confirming to The Indian Express that the infrastructure and faculty bottleneck would be looked into in the preparation of the 11th Plan, also said finances would not be a constraint for the seat expansion plan of the government.

Sources said the Planning Commission8217;s suggestions on the matter would be passed on to the Oversight Committee and the highest authorities. It is understood that the Prime Minister had a separate meeting with the deputy chairman on Friday right after the Cabinet meeting.

Identifying student-faculty ratio as a 8216;8216;major structural problem8217;8217;, sources said getting in temporary faculty and increasing the retirement age would only be short-term solutions. In fact, one of the options that is expected to be put forward to the oversight committee is to work out an arrangement with the corporate sector to share the talent pool and work out a deal where institutes can rope in faculty from corporates.

The other option that would be thrashed out the better utilisation of the existing campus facilities and working out 8216;8216;block deals8217;8217; in residential areas adjoining campuses, with the concerned institutes standing guarantee for students, to house the larger number of students that come in under the seat expansion plan. They also said a good house rent allowance to the faculty could be one of the options which would help reduce the strain on campus facilities.

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Officials, admitting that the government needed some 8216;8216;out of the box thinking8217;8217;, added that since these issues were still being finalised, it would be incorrect to put a final figure on the additional costs arising on account of the seat expansion plan. For instance, the costs of providing additional seats can be fine-tuned by using existing facilities more efficiently. There would also be some 8216;right-sizing8217; of existing departments in institutes that could again alter the costs.