Archive · 3 Aug 2026
India Faces Faculty Shortage, Calls for New Teaching Models
India has a lot of college students—about 43 million—but not enough teachers.
The ratio of students to teachers is about 27 to 1, and the country needs 600,000 more good teachers.
A study found that students do best when a teacher cares about them and makes learning exciting.
Because hiring that many teachers is hard, schools are trying new ways, like short, intensive courses taught by experienced professionals who are not full‑time professors.
The government also created a new type of teacher called a Professor of Practice to bring real‑world experts into classrooms.
India has 43 million higher‑education students with a 27:1 student‑faculty ratio.
A Gallup‑Purdue study shows students thrive when taught by passionate, caring professors.
The country lacks 600,000 high‑quality faculty positions and cannot fill them quickly.
Experiments like BITS block teaching and “Wisdom Faculty” aim to deploy expertise beyond full‑time staff.
The UGC’s 2023 Professor‑of‑Practice notification is a step toward practice‑track faculty.
- Who
- Indian higher‑education institutions and students
- What
- Faculty shortage and new teaching models
- When
- Current (2023‑2024)
- Where
- India
- Why
- To improve learning quality and meet demand
- Student count
- 43 million
- Student‑faculty ratio
- 27:1
- Faculty shortfall
- 600,000
- UGC 2023 notification
- Professor of Practice
- BITS model
- Block teaching format