The two major universities of J&K have bypassed the state Legislative Assembly by extending the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act 1993 to all B.Ed colleges of the state which is seen as an attempt to dilute Article 370.
While University of Jammu has already implemented NCTE Act 1993 in B.Ed colleges of Jammu region in June this year, the Act has been extended to Kashmir region also by University of Kashmir as per Notification No: F (B.Ed. Pvt Colleges-15) CDC/KU/15 dated October 10, 2015.
As per the new guidelines, the duration for B.Ed course has been increased from one year to two years and eligibility criteria has been fixed as Bachelors with 50 percent marks in case of general category students and 45 percent in case of reserved category.
According to official documents, Jammu University had adopted the National Curriculum framework for Teacher Education issued and published by NCTE in toto in June this year.
Although, the university proclaimed that NCTE is not applicable in J&K, but it has implemented the Act under the garb of Justice Verma Commission which primarily recommends implementation of NCTE Act.
Under this scheme B.Ed becomes two-year course, medium of instruction and examination becomes English only, intake gets reduced to 50 per semester and eligibility is raised from 45 percent as in state to 50 percent.
If this scheme is adopted in toto in the state this will adversely affect the B.Ed programs in the state and may lead to their closure.
After this notification was issued the authorities of B.Ed Colleges in Kashmir got agitated.
“It is very unfortunate that University officials have violated Article 370 by bypassing the state Assembly. They didn’t even consult the authorities of B.Ed colleges which is mandatory as per statuary rules of the university,” said C.L. Vishen, President, Kashmir Private Unaided Colleges Association.
He demanded that the university should exempt private B.Ed colleges from these guidelines this year.
“The Kashmir University session has already started. In the Government College of Education, students are already undergoing one-year B.Ed course session 2015-2016 for the last about six months and other B.Ed colleges of the valley have already entertained applications for one-year B.Ed 2015-2016 course,” he said.
Vishen said since NCTE was not applicable to J&K State by Act of Parliament, “so it is not mandatory for us to follow this framework”.
“If we follow this scheme it will affect our medium of instruction and examination, eligibility criteria and also affect intake capacity, which our colleges cannot afford and the colleges will get automatically closed for want of students, particularly so because B.Ed is not compulsory for teachers in the state,” he said.
“Next year the University of Kashmir and Jammu may go for two-year course. This will give time to the two universities to adopt NCTE model in a way that will satisfy the needs of the state. We hope our prayer will be granted and the frustration of students in the valley will get relieved,” he added.
Vice Chancellor, Kashmir University Prof Khurshid Iqbal Andrabi said the guidelines had been passed by University Council “like we did in case of implementing UGC and MCI rules in the state”.
“Both Governor and Chief Minister are the members of our university council besides Higher Education Minister. The grievance of B.Ed colleges was also raised in the meeting and passed without any hurdle. Our aim is quality education that is why we pass such Acts in the university council only. I think it doesn’t need to be sent to state Assembly,” he said.
