HRD Ministry warns of action against erring B.Ed colleges

Kolkata: Concerned over the standard of education in B.Ed colleges, the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) on Tuesday warned that around 40 to 50 per cent of such institutes may lose affiliation/recognition in coming months.

According to the Ministry's Department of School Education and Literacy Secretary Anil Swarup, around 40 per cent of B.Ed colleges have not responded to National Council for Teacher Education's instructions to furnish affidavits on their functioning.

"The NCTE is at it. We have all sorts of B.Ed colleges. Many are there just in name. So how do you somehow, anyhow, get into teaching? We are determined to correct it."

"Don't be surprised if in the coming three to four months... 40 to 50 per cent of B.Ed colleges lose their affiliation because when we ask for affidavits, 40 per cent have not filed these because it will lead to their criminal prosecution," Swarup told the media here.

Swarup was speaking at the 'Creating a robust school education system as the bedrock of new India' seminar organised by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"The NCTE had asked for affidavits for details -- how many teachers these colleges have, etc. Around 35 to 40 per cent have not even responded. So that indicates there is some problem. It is becoming clear that a large number of so-called B.Ed colleges are not doing the work that they are meant to do," Swarup said.

"So, we will come down heavily on people who are playing with education in this country," he added.

To ramp up the school education sector, Swarup said a national assessment survey will be conducted, based on learning outcomes proposed by the Centre.

"We are also proposing a national test like Common Admission Test or SAT for evaluation of teachers. We will have a merit list and let the states decide whether they want to employ these teachers or not. They still have the choice to conduct their own exams. We will not force the evaluation on them," he said.

To check absence of teachers from duty, Swarup said a biometric, portable attendance system will be rolled out in Chhattisgarh from August.

"In some states, 25 per cent teachers do not attend schools. We are doing a huge experiment in Chhattisgarh. All schools will have GPS-linked biometric-enabled tablets to monitor attendance of teachers. It will also store all data created at the school level," he added.