The low-student-to-high faculty ratio in Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS) has come under the scanner.
An assessment made by a Syndicate sub-committee revealed that the low-student-to-high faculty ratio is not financially viable for the varsity. It found that the existing student-to-teacher ratio is 1:7.95. For a total of 2,408 students, there are 303 teachers, with an overall teacher-student ratio of 1:7.95. It was far below the generally recommended teacher-student ratio, ranging between 1:15 to 1:20, it said.
The report, which analysed the scenario on the main campus and regional centres, found that there are 12 teachers for a total of 45 students at the Ettumanoor regional centre, with a teacher-student ratio of 1:3.75.
At the Thiruvananthapuram centre, there are 17 teachers for 78 students (1:4.59 teacher-student ratio). There are 12 teachers for 77 students at the Panmana regional centre, with a teacher-student ratio of 1:6.42. There are 156 faculty members for 1,418 students at the main campus of the varsity in Kalady (1:9.09 teacher-student ratio).
The scrutiny of the student-teacher headcount found that there are only two to four students for one teacher in some of the programmes. The authorities pointed out that the varsity should have a total student headcount of 4,545 to match the 1:15 ratio, with the current faculty strength of 303. For a 1:20 ratio, the total headcount should be around 6,060, they said. The Syndicate sub-committee found that the headcount of teachers is low in most of the regional campuses. The expenses required to offer a programme, which included salary, basic and administrative expenses, cannot be justified with the poor student headcount, it said.
