Indore : Bachelor of Education (BEd) programme, which till last year was high in demand, has lost its sheen with National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) making the one year course of two years duration from session 2015-16.
It is evident from the fact that nearly 80 percent seats in BEd colleges of the city remained vacant after first counselling for admissions. A list of vacancy in 520 colleges across the state has been uploaded by Department of Higher Education on MPOnline’s website.
Of 3200 seats 31 BEd colleges in the city, 2549 seats are still lying vacant after first counselling. The poor admission scenario has sent ripples through colleges. The colleges held NCTE’s accountable for the poor admissions.
“There was no need to extend duration of the one-year BEd course. We are facing the repercussions of the NCTE’s move,” said Matushree BEd College Director Rambabu Sharma said.
BEd is a bachelor degree, eligibility for admission in which is another bachelor degree. Students already having a bachelor degree in a discipline don’t prefer to pursue another bachelor course. They usually opt for masters’ degree.
“Till last year, the students were opting for BEd course because it was of one year duration and was also job-oriented. As the NCTE extended the course’s duration, students lost interest in the course,” Sharma said.
All the 31 BEd colleges in the city, except for Khalsa College, have 100 seats. Khalsa College has 200 seats.
A total of 92 seats against 100 in School of Education of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) are still vacant after first counselling whereas five colleges saw merely 10 per cent admission. Christian Eminent College managed to attract 49 students, which is the best figure in the city.
As many as 144 seats are lying vacant in Khalsa College. The colleges also held Department of Higher Education for poor admission scenario. Shri Yeshwant College director Ravi Bhadoria said that the DHE had made mark sheet of qualifying exam a must to apply for entrance test of BEd programme.
Because of this condition, thousands of students in the final semester of their undergraduate courses could not apply for the test. Resultantly, merely 65000 students could apply for the test against 52000 seats in the state compared to 1.44 lakh students last year.
