One of the most heartbreaking things for a teacher is the absence of a classroom to teach in. There are countless stories of educationists — from Savitribai Phule to S Radhakrishnan — making do with whatever resources they have at their disposal to pay the metaphorical wisdom debt forward. It is, therefore, doubly tragic when classrooms are bereft of teachers. And when classrooms in elite institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) go without teachers, there are no excuses to be made.IIT Delhi, the highest ranked institution in the country as per the latest QS rankings, has about 39% vacant posts. (PTI)As Hindustan Times first reported on Monday, across 23 IITs, 4,804, or 38.4% of the total sanctioned faculty posts were vacant as of January 30. While directors have cited uncompromising hiring standards and stiff competition from other universities and labs for the shortfall, nothing justifies it. In the absence of permanent faculty members, the burden of teaching and administrative jobs falls on temporary and ad hoc teachers. Working purely on a contractual basis, with no job security and little dignity, ad hoc teachers lack the institutional roots to contribute meaningfully to the academic landscape. Despite their best intentions and efforts, their precarious job status does not allow for any long-term planning either for students or themselves. The biggest losers amidst such uncertainty are students, some of the brightest and the most hardworking in the country.IIT Kharagpur is currently operating with less than half of the sanctioned faculty strength. Even IIT Delhi, the highest ranked institution in the country as per the latest QS rankings, has about 39% vacant posts. Institutions are built on continuity, and such recruitment gaps threaten the very structure their reputations rest on. According to many IIT directors, most candidates do not have good-quality PhDs and are, therefore, not suited to be hired. This merits two important questions. First, why are IITs unable to attract their own former students as faculty members? Second, if temporary faculty members are good enough as stop-gap measures, why are they not being permanently hired?While a lot can be said about India’s overall education system which ails from inadequate and lopsided policy frameworks, many of the crises befalling prestigious institutions are of their own making. The time for damage control is now.