Not one among the 684 private engineering colleges in the state has adequate faculty. Inspections carried out by task forces constituted by the state government have revealed that all the engineering colleges face acute shortage of faculty and have employed underqualified people as faculty. Even top colleges which collect lakhs of rupees as donations and fees for admissions are no exception.

The inspection reports assumed significance in the backdrop of the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) move to revise the fees for engineering courses for a period of three years from the ensuing academic year (2013-14). Going by the shortcomings detected during the inspections, the AFRC might order steep cuts in fees for the next three years. The managements had claimed fee hikes last year arguing that they had the requisite qualified faculty and were paying salaries as per the AICTE and state government pay scales. The government was left with little time to verify these claims since various colleges had approached the AP High Court and the Supreme Court seeking college-wise fees based on the quality of faculty and infrastructure they offered and had obtained orders in their favour.

As per AICTE norms, each department in a college should have one professor, four associate professors and six assistant professors in the ratio of 1:4:6. However, none of the colleges in the state complies with this norm. Acute shortage of faculty in colleges Colleges have employed underquali fied people as faculty Each department must have 1 professor, 4 as sociate professors and 6 assistant professors in the ratio of 1:4:6 However, none of the state colleges comply with this norm Managements have refuted inspection reports stating no college department in a college has one professor, four associate professors and six assistant professors in the ratio of 1:4:6 and said that they took into consideration only the sanctioned intake, while it should be admitted intake.

“There might be a sanctioned intake of over 1,000 in some colleges. But the admitted students may be less than 300 due to poor demand for engineering courses in the state during the past three years. In that case, colleges require few faculty members to take classes. The managements cannot afford to pay salaries for additional faculty just to meet the norms,” said Mr Nimmatoori Ramesh, chairman, Consortium of Engineering and Professional Colleges Managements Association.
There might be a sanctioned intake of over 1,000 in some colleges. But the admitted students may be less than 300 due to poor demand for engineering courses in the state