The teachers, most from the faculty of pure sciences, have been declared ``in excess'' as a result of the sharp decline in the number of students opting for the conventional degree courses.

The department is now caught up with the problem of absorbing them in colleges where vacancies are available.

Most teachers are from colleges in small towns where a majority of students is opting for vocational courses.

Blame it on the advent of info-superhighway culture or lack of job opportunities after a `plain' graduation, students are rapidly drifting away from the regular courses and looking for greener pastures in fields related to computer science, engineering, medicine and management.

Not even the recent nuclear explosions have been able to rejuvenate the sagging interest of students in pure sciencesubjects.

Out of the teachers declared surplus, chemistry teachers top the list with 27 followed by physics with 23. Another major surprise is the commerce subject, where 21 teachers are surplus.

``Given the limited job facilities after commerce graduation, it has no longer remained a hot favourite among students,'' said a senior official at the education department.

``The trend is more pronounced in rural areas as students there prefer D.Ed and B.Ed courses," he said.

"As commerce students have the least share in the stream-wise distribution of seats, students are preferring a degree in arts to commerce,'' he added.

Meanwhile, teachers' organisations have started demanding reorientation of science curriculum, making it more attractive in terms of job opportunities.

Harish Desai, president of the Pune University Teachers Association, said: ``The Government has to come out with a full-fledged policy for promotion of basic science studies, otherwise after a few years we will have only technology andno research.''

Desai strongly criticised the information technology policy announced by the Government saying: ``The Government is doing exactly the opposite of what it should do. The policy will only aggravate the drift away from pure science subjects.''

The Government is promoting technology but cutting down grants for post research and studies drastically, which is not a good sign, he added.