NCTE cracks the whip on erring B.Ed colleges

Cracking the whip on erring B.Ed colleges that allegedly failed to adhere to norms, the National Council for Teachers Education has decided to revoke the recognition status of 12 private colleges.

COIMBATORE: Cracking the whip on erring B.Ed colleges that allegedly failed to adhere to norms, the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) has decided to revoke the recognition status of 12 private colleges in Tamil Nadu.

Besides, the apex regulatory body for teachers' education has decided to send show-cause notices to 28 colleges for various violations. The numbers include three government colleges that allegedly indulged in various irregularities and not maintained sufficient faculty strength.

The decision was taken at the NCTE's southern regional committee meeting (virtual teleconference) held on July 23 and 24.

According to the minutes of the meeting, the decision was arrived at by the panel's Chairperson KK Shine after scrutiny of original documents submitted by the institutions.

Three govt institutes hauled up

The authority has sent a final show-cause notice to Institute of Advanced Study in Education, Chennai, a government institute, as it failed to submit documents, such as Land Use Certificate (LUS), Building Completion Certificate (BCC), and form A. Apart from this, the institution does not have sufficient faculty to run four basic units of B.Ed courses as per NCTE regulations. Likewise, two other government B.Ed colleges in Coimbatore and Vellore were also hauled up and asked to respond within 90 days.

No recruitment since last 10 years

On condition of anonymity, a professor of a government B.Ed college said, "The colleges have to function as per NCTE norms. But, even government colleges fail to follow norms due to official negligence. As per the norm, a college with one unit, 50 students, must have 13 faculty, including education staff - four, pedagogy staff - eight (depending on subjects), and health and physical education - one."

But, colleges fail to adhere to this norm, he said, adding that some do not have teachers for subjects like Mathematics, Chemistry, etc.

"There have been no new appointments made in government colleges for the last 11 years, and subsequently over 160 posts are lying vacant in seven government colleges. Even earlier the NCTE had sent notices to a few other government colleges. If the government fails to fill the vacancies in time, the NCTE may withdraw a few courses in the government colleges," he said.

'Issue taken to TNTEU'

A principal, of one of the government colleges that received a notice, said, "As there are no professors for a few subjects, existing ones are teaching those subjects despite not having expertise. The NCTE has sent a notice to our college, and we have taken this issue to the notice of officials of Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU)."

Covid hampers recruitment

Acknowledging the issue of vacancies, TNTEU Register V Balakrishnan said, "We have collected particulars on vacancies and submitted them to the government to fill the vacant posts in the B.Ed colleges. Due to the Covid pandemic, the recruitment of faculties has been temporarily put on hold." TNTEU VC N Panchanatham declined to comment on the action initiated by the NCTE.

Violations by pvt colleges

Meanwhile, the NCTE has also initiated action against 37 private colleges (revocation of recognition status of 12 colleges and slapping of show-cause notices to 25 private colleges).  Some of the violations are failure to submit land documents, non-encumbrance certificate (NEC), LUC, BCC, etc. The body also found that some of the colleges are functioning with unqualified faculties. According to the minutes, the principal of a college in Vellore was found to be unqualified for the post.  It was found that a few colleges were functioning on the rooftops buildings.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com