Functioning of private BEd colleges in Himachal under scanner

Bhanu P Lohumi

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Shimla, January 16

The arrest of three members of the inspection team of the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) from Gaggal and Indora in Kangra district for allegedly demanding money for ignoring the shortcomings in colleges has put a question mark on the functioning of private B.Ed colleges.

The affiliation of the colleges is renewed on the basis of the inspection report and such incidents sully the image of the state and do not augur well for the educational institutions. The Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HPPEIRC) has received several complaints of irregularities in private B.Ed colleges.

“We had received complaints of violations in the colleges. The committee, constituted to look into the issue, had pointed out shortcomings in five colleges with regard to screwed teacher-student ratio, non-payment of dues to faculty members and not attending students,” said Chairman, HPPEIRC, Maj Gen Atul Kaushik (Retd).

The commission had sought the details regarding the qualification and experience of principals and faculty members but the B.Ed colleges were reluctant to furnish the details, he maintained.

In 2020, some B.Ed colleges did not pay two-month salaries to teachers due to Covid following which the Himachal Pradesh Teacher Educators Welfare Association took up the issue with the Himachal Pradesh University authorities and apprised them that the colleges had collected the course fee for one year up to June 2020 in advance from the students and as such there should be no difficulty in paying salary to teachers.

There are around 1,100 teachers in 72 private B.Ed colleges affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University, which holds the entrance test and conducts the counselling. The salaries were given after intervention of HPU Registrar Ghanshyam Chand who directed the colleges to pay the salaries.