Patna, June 24: The state human resource development (HRD) department has sent letters to all the varsities in Bihar seeking proposal for increasing the number of seats on the lines of Patna University (PU), triggering posers on the already dismal teacher-student ratio.

Citing the example of doubling the number of seats in PU following proposal from the varsity, higher education director Sitaram Singh said the letters had been sent to the rest of the universities asking them to send the proposals to HRD if they wanted to increase the number of seats in the colleges under their jurisdiction. But the biggest hurdle for various universities in increasing the seats is the teacher strength.

According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, the student-teacher ratio in undergraduate courses should be 1:30 for social sciences and 1:25 in the science stream. At present, all the universities in Bihar are functioning with just half the sanctioned strength of teachers. If the seats in respective universities are doubled, the problem would aggravate.

The lack of teachers in Bihar universities is a bitter reality. Just one teacher teaches 150 history students at Patna’s BN College. The teacher, P.K. Poddar, doubles up as dean, students’ welfare, PU.

Poddar is not an isolated case. There are several other teachers handling more than 100 students. In future, the problem would increase because the HRD department has decided to double the seats in PU.

BN College principal K.K. Maltiyar said: “With the introduction of more seats in the colleges, the strength of students will increase. But the infrastructure offered by the university will remain the same.”

There are more than 15,000 sanctioned posts of teachers at the universities in Bihar. In Patna University alone, 547 posts of teachers are vacant against the sanctioned strength of 957.

In Magadh University, the biggest varsity of Bihar, the number of vacant posts is 1,500 against the sanctioned strength of 3,856.

The HRD higher education director, Sitaram Singh, said with the growth of population in the state a large number of students have access to higher education but the seats in the universities have not increased in the past few years.

Singh said: “The state government is serious about sorting out the problem of the teachers’ scarcity. With the amendment of the University Service Bill, the teachers’ appointment will be made.”

At Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University in Muzaffarpur, the situation is ever worse. There are 39 constituent colleges under the university but the number of teachers is just 600 against the sanctioned strength of 1,625.

Arun Kumar Singh, a senate member of the university, said: “The decision to increase the seats will add burden on the teachers in premier colleges because they will draw maximum students.”

Singh also said: “There is lack of infrastructure, particularly in the science department, as we face problem in conducting practical. The abolition of the post of demonstrators in several colleges has added to the woes.”