In the bustling town of Mokokchung, a notification by the State Government has been on many minds over the past two weeks. It has been the focus of many intense conversations amongst those that are studying or working in colleges and those involved in Student Unions. The transfer of faculty members from Fazl Ali College and Mokokchung College of Teachers Education to new colleges in Mangkolemba and Wakching, was met with much concern by both students and faculty members of the colleges. With new policies being introduced and quite a few changes occurring of late in the state’s higher education system, the impact these transfers will have on both the old and new colleges comes into question. We contacted our sources from Fazl Ali College to gain some insight into the situation.
When talking to our sources who are faculty members at FAC, one of them mentioned that some departments in the college were still short-handed. Another added, “Presently, there are 70 teachers and approximately 1200 students distributed across 17 departments (Arts and Science streams combined). Wherein, some departments functioning with a single faculty member and are barely managing, and the other departments are somehow functioning. However, this is a mere arrangement, which limits the teachers’ ability to engage with the students in a holistic manner. There’s much to be done beyond academics, but the teachers are overwhelmingly occupied.”
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The Secretary of Social Services of the Fazl Ali College Students’ Union (FACSU), Asensor Jamir, also voiced his concern for the college with the upcoming transfer of faculty members. According to him the transfer weakens many of the already understaffed departments. Regarding this, he also stated that “The students of the old colleges as well as the new colleges will be affected by the rushed and unplanned decision making by the Government.”
The matter of the efficient running of the college is also one that weighs heavily on the minds of the faculty in this situation. “Since the teachers that are being transferred are from big departments where enrolment of students is very high, it will definitely affect the quality of classroom teaching and learning. A single faculty member, apart from delivering lectures, is also responsible for internal assessments, mentoring students and takes responsibility for various clubs and societies, which are mandatory activities of the college” said one of our sources.
Asensor went into further detail about the matter and said “The moves made by our government shows a lack of situational awareness. The government has decided to take away assistant professors at a time when the college is struggling to handle the load of the old undergraduate program and the CBCS (Choice Based Credit System) Course, as well as the soon to be introduced FYUGP (Four-Year Undergraduate Programme) under the NEP (New Education Policy). At a time when the government should be proactive and should be strengthening the manpower in the college, they instead intend to handicap the college by taking away teachers. The college was already understaffed and struggling due to being neglected for many years, and now, instead of providing the college with much needed infrastructural development and providing an adequate number of staff, we are disheartened that the government is taking such counterproductive steps.”
With new policies like the NEP and the FYUP being introduced in the state, the transfers will not only affect the old colleges, but will severely hamper the capabilities of the new ones since the new colleges will be receiving only one faculty member per department. When asked whether one educator per department would suffice, one of our sources said, “Since the number of faculty assigned to the 5 departments in the new college is only 1 teacher each. It will not be possible to practically implement NEP and the FYUP with just one faculty. For instance, the department of English, which formerly had 15 papers will have ‘at least’ 27 papers to teach. This will be the case for all the other departments. As such, this newly accepted Educational Policy in place, the new college will not be able to function effectively for dire need of adequate faculty.”
Not only do the faculty feel that the colleges will be ill-equipped to handle the NEP and the FYUP, but they also feel that the New Education Policy itself is flawed and the implementation of it is not backed by proper research. “The transfer attachment of a handful of faculty to meet the needs of NEP is a clear reflection of the absence of expert policy advice and awareness of the changing educational system. For instance, under NEP and FYUP, skill-based and vocational courses need to be offered apart from the conventional subjects, which is missing in this case” said one of our sources. On this matter, Asensor further added that “The NEP also aims for a more holistic approach to education, an approach which requires more effort from both the student as well as the teacher. So it makes no sense, especially with the standards set by the NEP, to make single individuals man entire departments.”
However, focusing only on the criticisms of this order by the State Government bears no fruit when it comes to looking forward to better, alternative courses of action. Our sources within the faculty of the college had just as much to offer in terms of solutions. One of our sources stated that, “The best solution for all the colleges concerned will be to ensure that the new colleges are adequately staffed (both teaching as well as non-teaching) before starting with the academic sessions. This will automatically safeguard the welfare of the students in the existing colleges as well those who will be most affected by the transfer of Teachers.”
It is the hope of the faculty and the students of FAC and MCTE that the authorities would reconsider their directive, as the impact it could have on their accomplishments thus far is uncertain at best, according to their statements. The future and the best interest of both old and new colleges and their efficient functioning, is left to whether or not the government re-assesses their decision and comes up with an alternative course of action that would benefit all parties currently affected.
Read more: Students’ unions in Mokokchung share concerns over transfer of professors
