The Department of Collegiate Education’s recent decision to reallocate unfilled posts of teaching staff in the Psychology department at different Government First Grade Colleges to the Botany and Zoology departments of other colleges citing an absence of workload has drawn the ire of the Karnataka Psychologists’ Association.
The Commissioner of Collegiate Education cited poor response from students to take up Psychology as a subject and issued an order on June 29 reallocating 19 teaching staff posts in Psychology departments of 16 colleges in the State to Botany and Zoology subjects of other colleges.
Questioning the order, the Karnataka Psychologists’ Association has approached Deputy Chief Minister C. Ashwath Narayan, who also holds the Higher Education portfolio, with an appeal to ensure that the teaching posts for Psychology are retained to realise the larger goal of producing a sufficient number of psychologists to address the shortage of mental health professionals in the country.
Workload issue
The Department of Collegiate Education has invoked provisions under Rule 3 of the Karnataka Civil Services (regulation of transfer of teaching staff of collegiate education) Rules and reallocated the posts. The order pointed out that the posts would not have sufficient workload even if they were shifted to other colleges in the same subject, given the poor response to the subject from students.
Sandeep, a member of the association, begged to differ. He said private degree colleges in Bengaluru were flooded with applications from students keen to take up psychology as one of the subjects in their degree education.
Though the teaching posts for Psychology have been sanctioned in Government First Grade Colleges, they have not been filled. “When they do not fill up the posts of vacant teaching staff, how can they expect students to join?” he asked, adding that this new move would only force interested students to cough up exorbitant sums and join private colleges.
Mr. Sandeep also pointed out that the country was facing a severe shortage of psychologists. In 2018, the Lok Sabha was informed by the then Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare that India had only 898 psychologists, as against the required number of 20,250.
The association also expressed regret that the Department of Collegiate Education’s decision has come at a time when COVID-19 has emphasised the importance of psychological counselling to overcome stress.
Mr. Sandeep said that India’s need for psychologists becomes even more important in view of the rising suicide rate among farmers and youngsters. Psychologists and counsellors are playing a key role in schools, hospitals and other medical establishments, the military, the police department, and in the field of sports, he added.
Students protest
Meanwhile, the Hyderabad Karnataka Psychology Students’ Union has threatened to launch an agitation if the order is not withdrawn.
Union president Kedarnath Harsurkar and secretary Anil Tengli told reporters in Kalaburagi on Saturday that students of psychology from Gulbarga University, Karnatak University, Dharwad, and the University of Mysore and Bangalore University would join the protest. Mr. Tengli said most of the colleges had psychology as a subject, but had guest and part-time faculty for it.
