College faculty forced to turn marketing agents

HYDERABAD: The faculty of private engineering colleges are now being forced by their respective managements to take the additional responsibility of enrolling more students into their institutions. 
Faced with the prospect of losing their jobs, the teachers are also doubling up as marketing agents, doing door-to-door canvassing and are even made to distribute pamphlets.

These teachers are being threatened as failing to meet daily targets could result in a pay cut for that month and/or termination of their services.

“Even teachers who have 10-to-15 years of experience and hold M Tech and PhD degrees are roaming on the roads, going to EAMCET centres, distributing pamphlets and collecting details of students. Some even visit villages in different districts to convince students and their parents to pick their colleges. From teachers, we have been reduced to salesmen,” said Prof Balakrishna Reddy, president of the Telangana Technical Institutions Employees Association.

Though colleges are closed for summer for six weeks from April 28 to June 9 as per the JNTU academic calendar, for lecturers of engineering colleges, this time is spent “meeting daily targets and coaxing gullible parents into enrolling their children into their colleges.”

Teachers lament that they are left with little option but to comply. “In the last one year, thousands of teachers lost their jobs when AICTE revised the student-teacher ratio from 1:15 to 1:20. Hundreds more were forced to take a pay cut to remain employed. Instead of conditions improving, things are just getting worse,” said a lecturer from a private college. 

When they are made to travel, these teachers are not provided with any transportation or food allowances. 
These teachers are also afraid to speak up and oppose their decisions of their respective colleges as their original certificates are with their managements. They fear they could be laid off and their certificates held back. 

“They hold back salaries, cut the pay, force teachers to resign or threaten to give bad conduct report on their employment certificate. The managements stoop to any level to extract work from us,” said Sai Sujana, who recently resigned from a private engineering college on medical grounds. 

She said that after working from 9 am to 5 pm during the working days, they had to stay back until 9 pm doing other documentation for NAAC and NBA accreditation work. JNTUH urges teachers to complain, JNTU-H Registrar Prof N Yadaiah expressed surprise and said that so far no such complaint has been received by the university. 

“It is possible that colleges might be resorting to these means because they are not doing well. But the onus is on teachers. They must protest and not do these jobs. They need to come out of their safe zone,” he said.