Ranchi, July 27: Students leaving the city for greener pastures is common enough. But now, teachers of BIT, Mesra, are following suit.
About 20 teachers, mostly seniors associated with BIT, Mesra, for a decade or more, are leaving to teach in institutes like School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, Kalinga Institute of Technology and Science, Bhubaneswar and upcoming and existing National Institutes of Technology (NIT).
The trend started last year after the death of former vice-chancellor S.K. Mukherjee. Then, assistant registrar A.K. Jha left the institute for the Kalinga Institute of Technology and Science.
The latest teacher to join the list was the head of the architecture and planning department, Ajay Khare, who would be joining the School of Planning & Architecture, Bhopal, as director. His wife Archana Khare, a teacher in the same department, is also expected to join an institute of national repute at Ahmedabad. “This is an alarming situation. About 20 teachers have left the institute and 25 more (teaching and non-teaching staff) are negotiating terms with other institutes,” said a professor of mechanical engineering department who is also keen to move on.
Teachers cited non-implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, higher salaries offered by private colleges and too much pressure to complete the syllabus as a result of a serious staff crunch as reasons for the exodus.
“A senior professor now has to take three to four classes a day while norms suggest that a professor take only one class a day, spending the rest of his time on research-oriented work. But, we do not get time for that,” said a faculty member.
BIT, Mesra, vice-chancellor P.K. Barhai admitted there was a crisis as senior teachers were leaving the institute.
“We have been witnessing the trend for about 10 months. Teachers who have left our institution get double their salaries in reputed private engineering colleges. Moreover, new IITs and NITs require a host of good teachers,” he said.
Barhai said they needed to recruit more qualified teachers and train them.
“But the situation is not alarming as BIT, Mesra, always maintains a buffer stock of teachers,” he added.
