Kolkata: Coming as a setback to BEd colleges that have mushroomed in the state in the last few years, the West Bengal government has marked as many as 275 such colleges as 'ineligible'.
As a result, these BEd colleges will not be able to renew their accreditation for the academic year 2026-27.
State Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay stated that after the new government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari came to power, he stood at Bikash Bhaban and said that education will not be allowed to be commoditised in any way and the quality of education must be maintained.
He added that the Higher Education and Technical Education Department jointly conducted a rigorous inspection drive in B.Ed, ITI, Polytechnic and Pharma colleges.
He said that in the first phase, 156 B.Ed colleges were allowed to admit students, adding that about 415 B.Ed colleges that could not meet the criteria were sent 21-day show-cause notices for infrastructure development.
“Out of them, 9 colleges did not respond,” he said.
After the second round of inspection, permission has been given to admit students in 237 B.Ed colleges for the academic year 2026-27.
The remaining 205 colleges could not meet the quality standards, and due to this, a decision has been taken to stop the admission of students there.
The Minister also said that admissions have been suspended in 14 out of 265 ITIs, 38 out of 134 pharma colleges and 1 out of 74 polytechnics.
As a result, the future of the students in those colleges is in darkness.
Swapan Mandal, General Secretary of the Bengali Teachers and Education Workers Association, said that if 275 B.Ed colleges are closed at once in the state, it will be a disaster in the education sector.
He added that the future of the employees and students associated with so many colleges will become uncertain.
“There will also be a shortage of qualified teacher candidates. The government should immediately intervene in this matter and solve this problem,” he said.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.