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Blind recognition to ‘deficient’ private colleges stokes SC ire
In a telling account of how private colleges in the country were set up at will and allowed to function despite being ill-equipped and understaffed came to the fore recently in the Supreme Court, which questioned the alacrity of the statutory authorities — tasked to preserve academic standards — for failing in their duty.
It is not the first time the court has passed a diktat against private colleges. The warning was sounded in 1992 when the court asked the Government to urgently curb the mushrooming of ill-equipped and unrecognised educational institutions. Finding the situation to be the same even after two decades pained the court.
A bench of Justices BS Chauhan and TS Thakur said, “Despite repeated pronouncements of this court over the past two decades deprecating the setting up of such institutions, the mushrooming of the colleges continues all over the country at times in complicity with the statutory authorities, who fail to check this process by effectively enforcing the provisions of the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) Act and Regulations framed thereunder.”
The sudden provocation for the court to react strongly on the state of private colleges came while dealing with a set of colleges from Gujarat which had challenged the withdrawal of their recognition for failing to fulfil requirements under the NCTE. The institution in question was a B Ed college for training teachers that functioned from a building housing two other colleges. The NCTE, which initially granted recognition on May 29, 2007, withdrew it in November 2008 pointing out inadequacies discovered on a fresh inspection.
The court found it hard to believe how recognition could be granted to such a college in the first place. On earlier inspections, the institution reported several deficiencies that seriously affected its capacity to impart quality education and training to future teachers specifically.
“The fact that the institution was being run in a building which was shared by two other colleges was itself sufficient to justify withdrawal of the recognition granted in its favour,” said Justice Thakur, who wrote the judgement. In addition, the inspecting team of NCTE noted that four lecturers employed by the appellant college did not have the requisite M Ed qualification.
Finding the withdrawal of recognition fully justified in the light of the above facts, the bench even rejected the demand put forth by the erring college to allow students undertaking studies to appear for examinations. “The students may complete their studies in a recognised college instead of wasting their time in a college which does not enjoy recognition by the NCTE,” said the court. However, the students were permitted to seek legal remedy against the college in question by way of seeking refund of their fees.
In a telling account of how private colleges in the country were set up at will and allowed to function despite being ill-equipped and understaffed came to the fore recently in the Supreme Court, which questioned the alacrity of the statutory authorities — tasked to preserve academic standards — for failing in their duty.
It is not the first time the court has passed a diktat against private colleges. The warning was sounded in 1992 when the court asked the Government to urgently curb the mushrooming of ill-equipped and unrecognised educational institutions. Finding the situation to be the same even after two decades pained the court.
A bench of Justices BS Chauhan and TS Thakur said, “Despite repeated pronouncements of this court over the past two decades deprecating the setting up of such institutions, the mushrooming of the colleges continues all over the country at times in complicity with the statutory authorities, who fail to check this process by effectively enforcing the provisions of the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) Act and Regulations framed thereunder.”
The sudden provocation for the court to react strongly on the state of private colleges came while dealing with a set of colleges from Gujarat which had challenged the withdrawal of their recognition for failing to fulfil requirements under the NCTE. The institution in question was a B Ed college for training teachers that functioned from a building housing two other colleges. The NCTE, which initially granted recognition on May 29, 2007, withdrew it in November 2008 pointing out inadequacies discovered on a fresh inspection.
The court found it hard to believe how recognition could be granted to such a college in the first place. On earlier inspections, the institution reported several deficiencies that seriously affected its capacity to impart quality education and training to future teachers specifically.
“The fact that the institution was being run in a building which was shared by two other colleges was itself sufficient to justify withdrawal of the recognition granted in its favour,” said Justice Thakur, who wrote the judgement. In addition, the inspecting team of NCTE noted that four lecturers employed by the appellant college did not have the requisite M Ed qualification.
Finding the withdrawal of recognition fully justified in the light of the above facts, the bench even rejected the demand put forth by the erring college to allow students undertaking studies to appear for examinations. “The students may complete their studies in a recognised college instead of wasting their time in a college which does not enjoy recognition by the NCTE,” said the court. However, the students were permitted to seek legal remedy against the college in question by way of seeking refund of their fees.
