HP drops qualifying marks to fill BEd seats

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 4

On the eve of Teachers' Day, here's the story of the sorry state of affairs of education in Himachal Pradesh: the state government has decided to waive the condition of minimum 35 per cent marks in the entrance test for admission to BEd courses as there are literally no takers for these.

Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) had conducted the entrance test for 8,900 seats in 75 BEd colleges, including four government-run ones, but only 2,650 seats were filled after counselling and more than 65 per cent seats remained vacant. 

The decision to do away with the merit has irked the academics and politicians alike, as they feel it is contrary to the government's claim of making the state an "education hub" and bringing qualitative improvement in education.

"The government has made a mockery of the entrance test. The university is burdened with conducting the test and counselling for admissions; but, in the end, the entire exercise turns into a farce," said Prof Narinder Sharda, former Pro Vice-Chancellor of HPU. "Why should the university hold the entrance test and put unnecessary financial and mental burden on students if the test has no relevance," he asked.

"The lowering of the admission criteria will allow undeserving candidates to enter the profession of teaching. It is unfortunate that the government is adopting a negative approach to fill the vacant seats," said BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt.

The BEd seats have gone begging in the state for the past few years. The government's move is being seen as serving the interests of 71 private BEd colleges. Instead of cutting back on the seats or asking private BEd colleges to close down, the government seems to be compromising with merit and quality to help the colleges sustain.

"The government must ensure that only the cream enters the profession. It should raise the admission criteria to BEd courses to ensure quality of education doesn't suffer," said retired HPU Prof Manju. 

The shift from one year to two years BEd course by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and a high fee structure approved by the government for private BEd colleges are also reasons for low admissions. However, the fact is the state has reached a saturation stage and providing jobs to more than 8,000 BEds churned by these colleges every year is a challenging task.  

Faced with a similar situation in 2009-10, HPU had granted permission to private colleges to fill the seats in January 2010 and candidates with low merit, mostly from other states, were admitted and the final examination was held in April 2010.