After much drama, B.Ed. Task Force report upheld

The Academic Council meeting of the Bangalore University on Friday witnessed a heated argument over the Task Force’s recommendation to disaffiliate a B.Ed. college in Bagepalli run by the influential Nidumamidi Math.

It all began when N. Sampangi, BJP legislator from Bagepalli and also government nominee to the council, raised objection to the recommendation when the Task Force report came up for discussion.

Seeking leniency for minority and rural colleges, the legislator said the Bagepalli college had been recommended for disaffiliation, “when it was actually good”.

Contesting his claim, B.Ed. Task Force chairperson H. Karan Kumar said he had proof to the contrary and tried to show the inspection video on his laptop, which Mr. Sampangi refused to watch.

Mr. Kumar then said the High Court was bound to pull up the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar if ineligible colleges are allowed to function. When Mr. Sampangi objected to his choice of words, Mr. Kumar accused him of “dragging religion into an academic meeting”, after which Mr. Sampangi stormed out claiming to be “humiliated”.

Over to the Syndicate

Following these dramatic scenes, the main agenda of the meeting — the interim report of the B.Ed. Task Force — was finally discussed, amidst confusion whether the council was authorised to do so. However, in the end, the members accepted the recommendations, thus throwing the ball in the Syndicate’s court.

In the 205-page report, the Task Force has recommended renewal of affiliation only to 44 colleges of the 99. Of these, it also suggested that 18 colleges be disallowed to take in admissions for 2012-13. “The remaining 55 will not have affiliation,” Mr. Kumar said.

Another committee

When some members sought to know the status of the case where a B.Ed. college in the city was exposed with unused answer scripts, Registrar (Evaluation) R.K. Somashekhar admitted that no inquiry had been conducted as the S. Ramakrishna Commission, entrusted with the task, had wound up. The council then resolved to constitute another committee for the purpose.