Authorities of 253 private BEd colleges in West Bengal, whose affiliations were struck down by the Baba Saheb Ambedkar University, have been cautioned by the varsity not to approach people "who might seek monetary help" to get back their affiliation. The varsity instructed the colleges to improve their infrastructure as per the National Council of Teachers' Education (NCTE) guidelines for getting back their affiliations, as stated in a report by PTI.
Officials said that a total of 253 private BEd colleges out of 600 were denied permission to admit students from the next academic session because of a lack of proper infrastructure including teacher-student ratio as per NCTE guidelines.
Speaking to the media on November 13, Baba Saheb Ambedkar University Vice-Chancellor Soma Bandyopadhyay told reporters that the varsity had cautioned the management of the private BEd colleges not to fall into the trap of getting back their affiliations through money power. "All the colleges are cautioned to disassociate themselves from ill-motivated people who are promising to help the institutes get back affiliations by paying money," she said.
The VC did not specify about any particular private college but hinted that misinformation was being spread on social media. The senior academic said the fulfilment of all norms of NCTE should be the only criteria for getting back the affiliations.
The university (formerly West Bengal University of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration) had granted affiliation to around 350 other private BEd colleges and allowed them to carry on with the teacher training course.
The guidelines called for ensuring an adequate teacher-student ratio and the private colleges were intimated about it before they submitted applications for permission before November 4. There are over 600 private and 25 state-run BEd colleges in the state, as stated in a report by PTI.
