State to add 1,000 more B. Ed seats

HYDERABAD: The state will add another 1,000 Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) seats, literally churning out 35,000 teachers every year, from the next academic year as 10 more colleges have been accorded permission to offer teaching programmes. Counselling for the Edcet-2004 rank holders would be held in March.
The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has accorded permission to 10 colleges to offer B.Ed course a few days back. With this, 1,000 more teachers will be churned out each year, according to a senior official of the school education department.
As of now, the state has 304 colleges offering 33,903 seats. There are seven government colleges, five university colleges, seven private-aided colleges, 44 Christian minority colleges, 28 Muslim minority colleges and 213 non-minority colleges.
However, the NCTE''s move has evoked sharp reactions from the teaching community as well as students.
"More colleges are coming up in the state despite the government announcing a moratorium on new professional colleges. It will raise questions on our quality of education," rues student K Srikar.
The government should first take up counselling of the Education Common Entrance Test (EdCET-2004) before according permission to new colleges, said an academic.
"Students are clue less as to when the counselling would be conducted for admission to B. Ed colleges," S Sarath, an aspirant, said.
"If the school education department does not conduct counselling for admission to B. Ed colleges for the academic year 2004-05 even in February 2005, what is the point in having more colleges for students," rued a teacher of a private B. Ed college.
Instead of allowing more B. Ed colleges, the government should first take steps to improve standards in infrastructure, faculty and library facilities in several colleges. Besides, it should ensure that counselling would be conducted every year before September, he added. However, the school education officials are washing off their hands by saying that the NCTE had given permission to these colleges, which were earlier cleared by the state government and were pending with the apex body.