‘Colleges operate with faculty only on paper’

NEWDELHI: Sample this: Students of teacher training institutes in Bihar were handed a piece of paper with the names of faculty and teachers and were asked to memorise them in case they were quizzed during an inspection carried out by a team of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

The team conducted video recording of nine such institutes of the 73 it inspected and found several deficiencies in all of them. Not only this, during the inspection conducted by NCTE, the Quality Council of India (QCI), and the state government, it was found that the institute operating as a B.Ed college had male urinals in common room facilities meant for girl students. This indicated that the institute was not really functional and was made operational for inspection purposes only.

Most teachers whose name were given to students had not taken a single class and were never seen either, indicating they existed only on paper, allege students in the video.

Sources said that in a few cases, the team that was asked to conduct the inspection on the directions of the high court found that students had come to the institute only for inspection. It was also discovered that some students had joined the same day itself but in the attendance register they had been marked for the past two months.

Most students were paying different fee for the same course — for instance, the average fee should be around ₹60,000 — but they were found to be paying anything from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh. “They were issued receipts and some complained that they were being threatened to pay the entire amount else the admission would be cancelled. Some students have given this in writing,” said the source.

“In one case, we found a big impressive building of a teacher training institute but it was locked. The team, after quizzing residents, found out that it was actually the building of a school and they had installed two boards so that it could pass on as a college too,” said a source.

The NCTE will issue showcause to all the institutes where deficiencies were found and will also provide them an opportunity to present their point of view. Along with the video footage, a report will be submitted to the high court as well.

Some faculty of the institutes that were inspected said that they were paid a salary of ₹8,000 per month, which is below the prescribed standards.

The council on its website has already put up details of institutions that have submitted either an affidavit sought by it or those that were issued showcause notices and have replied. The council has issued an advisory to students not to seek enrolment in any other institute other than those listed on the website. It has now started the process of inspecting the 11,474 institutes.

MOST TEACHERS WHOSE NAMES WERE GIVEN TO STUDENTS HAD NOT TAKEN A SINGLE CLASS, INDICATING THAT THEY EXISTED ONLY ON PAPER, ALLEGE STUDENTS