28 November,2020 07:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Pallavi Smart
Representation pic
At a time when there are pay cuts and salary delays, professors from across city colleges are a hassled lot due to erratic work timings. Most of them complain that the work-from-home culture forces them to toil all day with no fixed timings in place.
The fact that they have to attend to students at any given time of the day is adding to their stress and leaving them with no personal time. Also, they fear that it might eventually affect the quality of education.
Pic for representation
A professor from a Kurla-based college said, "I had to finally tell my students that they should call only for urgent matters, other things can be resolved over messages or emails. I have also asked them to wait for me to respond and not call multiple times. We understand that in these uncertain times we have to be mentally fit and continue with work at the same time, but I realised what is going wrong when my family pointed it out." "And after all this if someone says that a professor's job is easy it's really frustrating," added the professor.
"Colleges have failed to understand that taking lectures online is more exhausting than in a regular classroom set-up," shared another professor, adding that there was no way of knowing whether students were understanding whatever they were being taught online.
Prof Vaibhav Narawade, president of Mumbai University and College Teachers Association and Dr. G B Raje, president of Bombay University College Teachers' Union
Another professor from a college in the western suburbs said, "Because of the uncertainty over jobs and considering the fact that many people are losing their jobs, we can't even deny any task. I have a couple of students who are currently out of India and they do not have access to textbooks or notes. Hence, I have to ensure
that those are digitally delivered to them."
In many colleges multiple divisions have been merged into one as the lectures are being held online, adding to the stress of the teachers. Prof Vaibhav Narawade, president of Mumbai University and College Teachers Association (MUCTA), said, "Over 35 per cent of colleges has had a pay cut. This is a major problem for the professors who are on contract or in self-financed courses or unaided private colleges. There are some colleges where teachers have not been paid for two months, making it difficult for them to survive."
Adding to this, Prof Madhu Paranjape said, "College managements have removed several professors and have also not appointed new people even as some have retired. All this is leading to a lot of stress and creating burden on those who are working. Nobody knows how many teachers have lost jobs and the Mumbai University has failed to perform its role as a regulatory body." "Earlier I was teaching four subjects and taking 18-20 lectures a week. But now I am teaching six subjects and taking around 25 lectures a week. This does not end with just lectures. We also have to prepare for lectures, give assignments, assess them, create question banks for exams and evaluate as well," shared a professor from a South Mumbai college.
Amid all of this, professors are also stressed over paper-setting tasks as it is completely arbitrary. "There used to be a committee of three professors, who were given two to three weeks' time to design three question papers, out of which one would be used for an exam. The professors were also paid for this. But now with the changed pattern of multiple choice questions, we get a WhatsApp message in the evening that by the next morning we have to submit 25-30 questions for a subject. Though professors are doing it, they are not paid for it, whereas students are paying full examination fee," shared another professor.
"If a job that needs 10 people is done by five, then it will definitely add stress and create other issues. The University cannot turn a blind eye towards these problems. Moreover, the academic council of the varsity should issue an academic calendar like every year. With no uniformity, there is complete chaos, creating more stress for students and teachers," said Dr. G B Raje, president of the Bombay University College Teachers' Union (BUCTU), who has written to the MU regarding a few issues.
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