4 BEd colleges asked to suspend admissions

The SSPM8217;s Gurukrupa College of Education and Research at Kalyan went one step further. Here, authorities implied its student leaders had pocketed8217; Rs 10,000 each while collecting fees from students.

Now, along with two other BEd colleges affiliated to the university, these colleges have been told to hold admissions in abeyancethanks to several financial and other irregularities discovered by a three-member committee appointed by the university two years ago.

The decision, yet to be forwarded to the state education department, was taken on the basis of the committee8217;s report tabled at a meeting of university8217;s Academic Council on January 30. The other two colleges found to have flouted rules are Oriental Educational Trust8217;s National College of Education at Ulhasnagar and All-India Khilafat Committee8217;s College of Education at Byculla.

After initial inspection of all 27 BEd colleges affiliated to the university in 1997, the panel had made certain recommendations and classified colleges into four categories 8212; A, B, C and D 8212; on the basis of their infrastructure. In January this year, colleges in the D8217; category were inspected again to check for compliance with earlier directives.

The Gurukrupa College was found to have collected Rs 500 more than the prescribed fee while giving students the impression that Rs 350 would beforwarded to the university as examination fee. No receipts were issued. The management, however, claimed the money had been collected by student leaders and authorities therefore had no control over these funds. This, the committee8217;s report says, implies every student leader would have Rs 10,000 as unaccounted money.

The panel also found appointment of principals was not done as per rules, Provident Fund accounts of teaching staff had not been maintained, and practice teaching programmes were inadequate.

At MCES8217;s college, the committee discovered the building was badly maintained and a day before the panel8217;s visit, students were told to clean the buildings and surroundings under the guise of community work.8217;

Students directly admitted by the college were charged Rs 20,500, whereas half of them should have been charged only Rs 8,500. Though the college claimed the excess had been refunded, receipts and statement of accounts for 1997-98 were not furnished before the committee.

At National College,the panel found authorities had forced students to deliver more than one lesson a day under its practice teaching programmes but had fudged dates to show they had presented only one lesson a day. Also, the BEd college was found to be jostling for space with the DEd college located in the same building.

According to the report, the space crunch at All-India Khilafat Committee8217;s college had forced instructors to impart lesson guidance in the staff room itself! Authorities were also unable to produce receipts to bolster claims about refunding excess fees charged. Also, the cash book showed an excess of Rs 1,02,000.

The committee has therefore recommended that admissions be suspended till the colleges comply with all regulations.