Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has decided to appoint guest lecturers who lack the qualifications prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as academic coordinators in colleges. This decision comes despite a 2024 directive from the Karnataka High Court that mandated adherence to UGC-prescribed educational qualifications in the selection process of guest lecturers.
Background of the Decision
In October 2025, the High Court dismissed a review petition filed by the state government, reaffirming that all guest lecturers must possess NET/SLET/PhD qualifications to teach in colleges. Karnataka currently employs 10,335 guest lecturers, of whom 5,267 meet the UGC-prescribed qualifications, while 5,068 do not. Among the latter, 1,215 teachers may still be appointed as there were no eligible candidates available for their subjects.
The remaining 3,853 guest faculty members, each with more than five years of experience, will be appointed as academic coordinators starting from the academic year 2026-27. Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar explained, "We have taken the decision on humanitarian grounds as they have worked with our colleges for several years. As the court also clearly said the guest faculty should be appointed based on UGC-prescribed qualifications, we had to drop them during the counselling to hire guest faculty this year."
Roles and Financial Implications
The academic coordinators will handle administrative tasks, assist in laboratories and libraries, manage examination duties, provide career guidance, and offer psychological counselling, among other responsibilities. This arrangement is temporary, lasting three years, with fixed remuneration based on the candidate's experience. The initiative is expected to cost the state exchequer approximately Rs 95 crore annually.
Religious Symbols Issue in KCET
In a separate development, the government is considering offering a retest to five students who were asked to remove their religious symbols during the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) held recently. A female student who was asked to remove her hijab did not write the physics paper, while four male students, forced to remove their sacred thread, reported that the incident affected their concentration during the test. Minister Sudhakar stated, "Awarding grace marks is ruled out as it will create legal issues. But, if the students wish to take a retest, we will discuss it."
Engineering Education Reform Authority Recommended
An expert committee on reforms in technical education, chaired by S Sadagopan, founder-director of the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B), has recommended the establishment of a Karnataka Engineering Education Reform Authority (Keera). Minister Sudhakar noted, "We will bring in structural reforms in engineering education based on the recommendations of the committee. For the establishment of Keera, we need to bring an act, which we will discuss and decide soon."
If established, Keera would coordinate curriculum reforms across Visvesvaraya Technological University, autonomous colleges, and deemed-to-be universities, manage hub-and-spoke infrastructure, and broker industry partnerships. The recommendations will be implemented after the issuance of a government order.
