Several colleges of education stare at closure

Due to sharp decline in admissions

TIRUCHI

A number of colleges of education in the central region are staring at closure due to sharp decline in admissions.

In very many colleges, the institutions are unable to fulfil the norms of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) pertaining to minimum student strength and quality upkeep.

The trend of decline in admissions has reflected in as many as 150 institutions failing to pay affiliation fee of ₹ 1 lakh to the Tamil Nadu Teacher Education University.

In a letter dated March 28, the university has written to the colleges to clear the dues for continuity of affiliation.

The university, in another communication, had instructed the principals that the institutions must have 200 working days during the academic year 2019-20.

As against a minimum number of 50 students specified for each year, the colleges are unable to attract even one fourth of the stipulated strength, sources said. Also, the system of conducting regular classes is passe for most of the colleges.

Months before the start of every academic year, the management deputes agents to rural parts to identify candidates of SC communities who have the eligible qualification so as to enrol them and claim the scholarships. The colleges of education do not insist on the attendance of these candidates, sources said.

Faculty recruitment is also conducted in a slip-shod manner. The norms of NCTE framed to ensure quality is followed more in breach than observance, according to a senior teacher in a college of education in Tiruchi district.

The managements are able to manoeuvre even after the university enforced biometric system of attendance, sources said.

All that the candidates do is get the course contents and attend the modal exam. Though most of them scrape through with minimum pass marks, they are rejected by the private schools.

The inspection mechanism by the Tamil Nadu Teacher Education University is not serving the deserved purpose, a functionary of a school management said, while explaining the difficulty several private schools face in getting quality teachers through conduct of campus interviews.