West Bengal has allowed BEd admissions at 150 of the state’s 603 private colleges this year, while keeping admissions at the remaining 453 institutions on hold over alleged shortfalls in infrastructure and compliance with National Council for Teacher Education norms.
The decision follows inspections conducted jointly by the higher education department and Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University, which affiliates BEd colleges across the state. The university has also permitted admissions at 25 government BEd colleges.
Arunasish Goswami, vice-chancellor of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University, said the 453 colleges had been barred from admitting students because they were not complying with NCTE regulations. “Admission to the 453 colleges has been disallowed as of now because they were not abiding by NCTE regulations. We are currently proceeding with admissions to 150 private BEd colleges and 25 government BEd colleges,” he said.
Among the requirements under scrutiny are teacher-student ratios and the availability of facilities needed to run a recognised BEd programme. Colleges are required to maintain academic areas, curriculum laboratories, science laboratories, resource centres and workshop space. They must also submit documents such as fire licences and other credentials every year when seeking renewal of their university affiliation.
NCTE regulations require a BEd college to have at least eight teachers for a batch of 50 students. Officials said many private colleges did not have the infrastructure or staffing required under these norms. The higher education department issued show-cause notices to the affected institutions after the inspections, and the deadline for submitting replies ended on Friday.
The responses are now being verified by the university and the department. An education department official said some of the colleges could be allowed to resume admissions if their explanations and supporting documents satisfy the authorities after verification.
The action has immediate implications for students seeking entry into the two-year BEd programme. The qualification is required for candidates who want to sit for the West Bengal School Service Commission’s selection tests for secondary and higher secondary teaching posts in government-aided schools. The admissions hold therefore affects not only the colleges concerned but also the pipeline of candidates preparing for school-teaching recruitment.
The university’s annual affiliation process is intended to check whether colleges continue to meet the conditions attached to recognition. Goswami said the action was necessary to establish that institutions could not operate in violation of NCTE standards. The higher education minister, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, had earlier said private institutes, mainly BEd colleges, that failed to meet the central regulator’s criteria could be shut down.
The immediate next step is the completion of verification of the show-cause responses. Admissions at the 453 colleges will remain on hold unless the authorities are satisfied that the institutions meet the prescribed regulatory and infrastructure requirements.
