Nearly 1,400 shortlisted as guest lecturers in TN art & science colleges
Candidates to be hired on a temporary basis after interview is completed
CHENNAI: With the number of vacancies piled up to 4,000 and the new academic year has begun, the Higher Education has started recruiting guest lecturers in the Arts and Science colleges across Tamil Nadu by shortlisting more than 1,400 candidates for interview.
The Directorate of Collegiate Education launched an online application process for 574 guest lecturers in July 2025, with a total of 800 guest lecturers planned for the first phase to address vacancies, which has to be filled immediately.
A senior official from the department said, “The recruitment process started in eight regions including Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchy, Madurai, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Thanjavur and Tirunelveli. The selection process for a guest lecturer on a temporary basis was done online. All the steps — including applicant registration, entering application details, payment of application fee and uploading of certificates – were also done online.”
More than 1,400 candidates were shortlisted in the eight regions for the interview. “In Chennai, 222 candidates were called for interview, 165 in Coimbatore, 224 in Dharmapuri, 150 in Madurai, 170 in Thanjavur, 153 in Tirunelveli, 134 in Tiruchy and 175 in Vellore,” he added.
The 574 vacancies are provisional and subject to change. Final number of posts and subjects may vary depending on administrative requirements, availability, and approval from the competent authority. “The appointment of guest lecturers will be purely on a temporary basis. They will be provided Rs 25,000 per month as remuneration,” the official stated.
Another official from the department, seeking anonymity, said that the Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board had issued a notification on March 14, 2024, to recruit over 4,000 assistant professors. “All the procedures including online registration, certificate verification and conducting the State Eligibility Test (SET), which is mandatory for the recruitment, were completed. However, the results could not be published as it was being litigated. Therefore, the government decided to appoint guest lecturers so that the students’ education should not be affected,” he pointed out.
More than 50 cases were pending with regard to the appointment of assistant professors in the Arts and Science colleges. “All the hurdles will be cleared and all vacancies will be filled as soon as possible,” he assured.
