West Bengal Government Approves 7 New PG Courses at North Bengal University Amid Faculty Shortage Concerns
The West Bengal Higher Education Department approved seven new postgraduate streams at the University of North Bengal (NBU) to expand academic options. However, stakeholder scrutiny mounts as existing departments face severe permanent faculty shortages, depending heavily on guest lecturers barred from supervising doctoral research and leading major initiatives.
North Bengal University: The Higher Education Department of West Bengal has sanctioned seven new postgraduate (PG) courses of study in the University of North Bengal (NBU), situated close to Siliguri. Though the introduction of such a development is meant to diversify the offerings of higher education to the students of North Bengal, the move has been facing a lot of scrutiny from various faculty associations, academic groups and student organisations because of the severe and pending shortage of permanent teachers within various departments of NBU.
The problem lies in the fact that some of the existing departments within NBU already suffer from a dearth of faculty members and therefore depend heavily on guest lecturers and contract faculty members to cope with their course and examination processes. Inclusion of seven new PG streams of study without making any provision for hiring dedicated faculty members would affect the teaching process and research supervision of the institution. The contractual faculty members have some administrative limitations that prevent them from supervising doctoral scholars and undertaking any major research projects, thus lowering down the quality level of the institution.
New PG Courses at North Bengal University: Overview of the Institutional Development
Below are the highlights related to the new PG courses at North Bengal University:
| Parameter | Details & Status |
| Institution | University of North Bengal (NBU), Siliguri, West Bengal |
| Sanctioning Authority | Higher Education Department, Government of West Bengal |
| Key Announcement | Approval to launch 7 new Postgraduate (PG) streams |
| Core Operational Challenge | Widespread vacancy of permanent teaching positions and reliance on temporary guest faculty |
| Primary Stakeholder Concern | Dilution of academic quality, research output, and classroom engagement without fresh faculty recruitment |
Key Concerns Raised by Academic Stakeholders
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Academic Shortage in the Institution: The current departments in NBU are finding it difficult to cope with the burden of heavy teaching due to the long delay in recruiting permanent faculties.
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Over-Dependence on Contractual Teachers: The institution depends too much on contract and guest teachers, who find themselves with very limited scope of research guidance and designing curriculum and mentoring students.
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Mismatch in Infrastructure and Human Resource: While adding up courses in specialty provides more options to local students, adding these courses without having any permanent faculty poses threat to the academic standard of the institution.
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Immediate Recruitment Required: There have been demands by faculty unions and students' associations in the university for immediate clearance from the state government for recruiting permanent faculties along with implementing the new PG course curriculum.
Siddhi Sharma is an education journalist at Jagran Josh. A Journalism and Mass Communication graduate from IP University, she brings sharp newsroom instincts developed during her previous stint at Zee News. At Jagran Josh, Siddhi specializes in decoding the educational updates. Her coverage is highly exam-centric, ranging from curated news blogs for competitive exams to crucial school board and university news. Combining her strong media foundations with a research-driven approach, she creates reliable, high-utility content that helps students and aspirants stay ahead of the curve. Her writing is factual, engaging, and tailored to meet the fast-paced needs of modern learners and exam aspirants.
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