Kolkata: Nearly 225 out of 600 self-financed BEd colleges in Bengal will not be allowed to admit students in the current academic session, state education minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay said on Monday, as he announced a crackdown on self-financed institutions under lens for academic irregularities.The irregularities surfaced following inspections across self-financed BEd and pharmacy colleges, polytechnic colleges and industrial training institutes, the minister said while speaking at the annual general meeting of Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shikshak Sangh at West Bengal State University, Barasat.According to Chattopadhyay, inspections found that only five out of 134 pharmacy colleges inspected met full operational standards. Eighty-one institutions have been granted conditional approval to admit students as a special consideration this year, while others are set to face administrative action.Similar discrepancies were found in technical institutions, the minister said. Fourteen out of 265 ITIs were found to exist only on paper, he added. He further said that 18 polytechnic colleges were likely to face departmental proceedings.“During our inspections, we found a single address was shared by BEd, ITI, polytechnic and pharmacy colleges,” Chattopadhyay said. “There is a huge imbalance between degree distribution and employability. Of 31 state universities, 11 have vice-chancellors and nothing else,” he added.The minister called on faculty members to ensure attendance in classes. He told ABRSM functionaries to maintain ideological integrity and discipline even as they accommodate former political rivals into the fold.
