New Delhi, Feb. 24: The National Council for Teacher Education has accepted a Bengal government proposal to conduct special bridge courses to try and salvage the careers of teacher trainees from institutes declared illegal by Calcutta High Court.

Trainees from illegal institutes that ran one-year courses instead of the mandatory two-year courses will be considered qualified to teach if they clear the bridge course, the human resource development ministry indicated today.

The proposal, aimed at legalising degrees earned by students from the institutes declared illegal, has received “in-principle” approval from the council, junior HRD minister M.A.A. Fatmi told the Lok Sabha today.

Only those with 50 per cent marks in their 12th standard board examinations and the one-year degree will be allowed to sit for the bridge course, Fatmi said.

The state government said that around 70,000 of the 75,000 affected students would benefit despite the conditions. “Most of the remaining 5,000 candidates belong to SC, ST and other backward categories,” said Sukumar Mahapatra, joint secretary of the state school education department.

All teacher training institutes in India must be recognised by the council for their degrees to be valid for teaching jobs. Institutions seeking recognition must adhere to course requirements set by the council. Its rules say courses must be of two-year duration.

Over a hundred teacher training institutions, running one-year courses in Bengal, were declared illegal last year. The decision put the careers of around 75,000 students — past and present — in jeopardy.