Colleges run by non-qualifiers to go

Warning stringent action against teacher training colleges across the country, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is likely to narrow down on fraud colleges with the aim to eliminate them.

Speaking exclusively to DNA, NCTE Chairman Santhosh Mathew, who was in the city to deliver a talk on ‘The crisis in teachers’ education in India’, spoke about the large-scale fraud in the sector, which extends to about Rs 18,000 crore a year. He said, “It involves underpaying faculty who are meant to be paid as per the UGC structure, providing illegal services such as 100 per cent attendance, 100 per cent internal marks, impersonating identity during exams and issuing degrees to such students.” He added, “A lot of people have entered the sector like road contractors, alcohol distributors or whoever is in the twilight zone is a college owner today.”

Mathew’s talk was held at Ahmedabad Management Association. “Now that we are investing in schools, the enrolment rates have gone up. But the same attention is not being given to teachers. As a result, the standards have gone down leading to a huge crisis,” he added.

Using Aadhaar number to find duplication of teachers, he explained, “We have introduced a ranking system. …read more