Law colleges running short of teachers

KOCHI: It looks like law is taking its own course in terms of student-teacher ratio at the law colleges in the city. Paucity of staff is a big problem, said authorities. The majority of teachers are either appointed on contract or are guests.“The ratio stipulated by the Bar Council of India (BCI) is 1:60 and UGC 1:40, but we have 80 in each batch of the three-year course and 100 in each batch of the five-year course,” said A S Saroja, Principal, Government Law College Ernakulam.The high number of students is taking its toll not only on legal education but also on the teachers’ vocal chords as they do not even have mikes. “Teachers are struggling to manage classrooms with a student strength of 80 and 100 which leaves less room for individual attention, more posts have to be created,” said Principal A S Saroja.It is a professional college and education can be imparted in a better way if each class is divided into two, especially now that the standard of education is deteriorating in every field, including law, she said. The classroom culture it not what it was a few years ago when passion for the subject, dedication and hard work were the watch words. Unhealthy competition, speedy work which compromises on quality and the race for material wealth giving scant regard to values on the campus is losing out on its very purpose. Today parents have no time to instil values in children. The dangerous part is that some of these students opt for teaching, she said. Paucity of teachers is a big problem. The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) is short of permanent staff. “There are only 11 permanent lectures and notification for two more posts has been given. As per BCI norms, we can accommodate 80 students in a class,” said Registrar V Narayana Swamy. Around 25 lecturers are guests and on contract. The dearth of permanent staff is also an issue at School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology. The student strength is less, around 20 in each batch but more permanent teachers are needed. “Though there are posts for 24 full-time teachers, we have only six permanent staff,” said Director V S Sebastian.