Journalism of Courage
The growing trend of thousands of Bachelor of Education (BEd) seats in colleges remaining vacant every year in the state continues,with around 10,500 seats expected to be vacant this year. Nagpur,with 4,645 vacant seats leads the list,Pune follows with around 1,310.
The admission process is on and the last date is being extended from Wednesday by three days,because of the huge student deficit,being attributed to the steady increase in BEd colleges across Maharashtra.
As many as 3,500 seats were vacant in 2009 and around 3,000 in 2008. This year,estimates say the number will increase manifold. The admission process is on. But since not many are coming forward for admissions,we will extend admission date, said Dr R V Kirdak,Director,Higher Education Directorate.
He added,One of the main reasons for the decrease is the spurt in BEd colleges in the last few years. Consistently for the last five years,many new BEd colleges have been set up. This has led to an imbalance in students passing out from colleges and the actual demand for teachers.
Sanjeev Sonawane,HoD,Department of Education,University of Pune,said. Most students today want high-paying jobs and go for medicine,engineering and MBA courses. Students consider teaching the last option these days. Also,since there has not been a substantial increase in demand for teachers,many students who have done BEd are without jobs.
Kardik said the trend of fewer boys going in for the course than ever before. Even if many boys appear for the Common Entrance Test and clear it as well,when it comes to taking admission,not many come forward, he said.
Leena Choudhary,Principal,Symbiosis School,said,Today,children are aware of the world around them. BPOs require much less effort and yield higher pays than a teachers.
