A state-aided university which affiliates the private BEd colleges has barred 253 such institutions from admitting students on the ground that they don’t abide by the National Council for Teachers’ Education (NCTE) regulations on teacher-student ratio and don’t pay their teachers in accordance with the pay scale set by the UGC.
There are around 400 private BEd colleges in Bengal.
Soma Bandyopadhyay, vice-chancellor of the West Bengal University of Teachers’ Training, Education Planning and Administration, said they have withdrawn affiliation to these colleges, preventing them from admitting students.
“The NCTE stipulated regulations state a college is required to have eight teachers for a batch of 50 students. These colleges are not abiding by the prescribed teacher-student ratio set for them. They don’t pay their teachers following the pay scale fixed by the UGC,” she said.
The importance of two-year BEd programmes emanates from the fact that the school service commission has mandated that candidates for secondary and higher secondary teaching jobs in government-aided schools must have a BEd degree to be eligible to sit for the selection test.
In Bengal, there are 24 government BEd colleges.
“Withdrawal of admission from the private BEd colleges is a matter of concern. This will land many students in crisis,” said an official of the education department.