Fill up teaching vacancies in Central universities: Mukherjee tells Centre

Kishangarh, Rajasthan: Taking note that there were nearly 38 percent teaching vacancies in Central universities, President Pranab Mukherjee today asked the human resource development ministry to fill the positions with the best of faculties."We are having 43 Central universities managed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD). I find there is a shortage of faculty to the extent of 38 percent in these universities."I have requested the HRD minister to take expeditious steps in filling the vacancies. We require quality teachers and we must provide incentives, so that bright students join the teaching profession," Mukherjee said while speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Central University of Rajasthan.[caption id="attachment_942503" align="alignleft" width="380"]

President Pranab Mukherjee. Image courtesy PIB[/caption]There is a need to use technology in spreading quality education across the country, said Mukherjee while stressing that lectures of the best of faculties could be taken to remote areas through electronic technology. He also said, at a time of fierce competition, innovation has to be encouraged and that there was a need to expand the physical infrastructure related to education and also raise its quality. The president noted that in a recent survey conducted by an agency, none of the country's top educational institutions figured among the world's top 200. This was not always the case and at one time Indian universities like Takshshila and Nalanda attracted scholars from around the world, Mukherjee said."History has shown that how nations have risen from ashes, from mediocrity, from clutches of underdevelopment on the foundation of a strong knowledge system. "In contemporary times marked by technological and economic advancement, knowledge is an important channel for shaping the destiny of nations," he said. "Economic growth depends on a successful mobilisation of the knowledge economy, which in turn has its basis in a robust education system," he added.Addressing the students who had graduated, Mukherjee said, the nation had invested in them, but did not want big sacrifices in return.The nation only asks you to understand your duties and responsibilities well, he said. PTI