Guest lecturers of pure sciences and languages in Tamil Nadu’s government arts and science colleges are facing uncertain times as they await to see the outcome of the Department of Higher Education’s decision to discontinue subjects with low student enrolment in the coming academic year.

As per the department’s announcement in April, government colleges in Chennai, Tiruchi, Dharmapuri, Madurai and Thanjavur, among other places, would have to stop admissions for subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Tamil, and History, that have been seeing fewer takers in recent years.

The recalibrated syllabus is expected to replace some subjects with disciplines such as Commerce and Data Science.

However, guest lecturers, who form a large section of teachers in government colleges, said that appointments made based on student enrolment would have an adverse effect on their career.

“In the current scenario, guest lecturers are paid for only 11 months even though they work throughout the year. If entire departments are closed down, only those guest lecturers who can cope with transfers to other campuses can sustain their career. Those who cannot will have to drop out of the profession. We request the authorities to re-train and reassign guest lecturers within the same colleges to deal with the new subjects,” V. Thangaraj, state president, Tamil Nadu All Government College UGC Qualified Guest Lecturers Association, told The Hindu.

Shortage of staff

Senior academicians said that the 15 new government arts and science colleges established in the State to function from the 2025–26 are facing a shortage of staff as well as student admissions.

“The Government Arts and Science College in Kolakkanatham, Perambalur, has only 17 new admissions for the first year. There are five subjects being offered for study, but the number of teachers is low. Though it was begun with the intention of increasing the intake of rural students, the college does not have its own campus or even bus transport. We have a target student strength of 300, but have got less than 80 in the first and second year so far,” said a college official requesting anonymity.

The institution is functioning from five rooms on the premises of Government Higher Secondary School at Kolakkanatham which is under construction.

“All the new government colleges are short of staff. At least 20 teaching faculty are needed per college, but most are making do with just four to five. In this scenario, it is important to optimise the usage of existing teachers, before colleges reopen for the new academic year next week,” the official added.