Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT) are the most reputed technical institutions in the country. Every year lakhs of students write the JEE-Mains and JEE-advanced to gain admission in these institutions. The facilities and faculty provided at these institutes are the best in the country. There are 17 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and they have 9,885 seats in total across various streams. In National Institute of Technology (NIT), there are 15,485 seats and 31 institutes.

What and How

High-quality education is imparted in all IITs and NITs. The faculty at these institutes are considered to be one of the best in the country. Over the last few years, there have been reports that suggest that there is a shortage of teaching staff at both IITs and NITs. It is very difficult to get a teaching position at one of the top institutes in the country and the advertisement of the vacancies are released only during a particular period.

To deal with the shortage of teachers at these institutes, HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry has ordered all the IITs and NITs to make recruitment of new teachers a continuous process. A rolling advertisement will be adopted wherein aspiring candidates can apply for the interview all through the year.

According to the data provided by the government, IITs need 2,000 more teachers and NITs require 3,000 more teachers to fill their teaching positions. In order to fill this gap, the government has adopted a variety of methods such as encouraging the students who have enrolled for a Ph.D. stream to join as faculty at IITs and NITs once they complete their course. Students enrolled for the B.Tech course are also encouraged to pursue their master’s program and Ph.D. after that.

Earlier this year, IIT Delhi tried to recruit faculty from Ivy League universities by conducting road shows in their campuses. Ph.D. scholars are also being considered for teaching positions at IIT Delhi.

The government also plans on improving the education system in the engineering stream. Recruiting teachers in the vacant positions is one such method.

Expert Opinion

Prakash Javadekar, HRD Minister said that these premier institutes will list the total number of vacancies on their website and will have an ad always present. This is the method of having a rolling advertisement. He also said that the ministry wants to recruit Indian students who have pursued their degree in foreign institutions. The IITs have been instructed to visit foreign universities and recruit Indian students from there.

AK Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee said that they are not very keen on hiring their own Ph.D. students as faculty in the institute as this will not bring in a fresh perspective in the institutes.

With these measures, it will now be easier for teachers to apply for teaching positions at the premier institutes in the country all through the year.