The reason that the University of Kashmir is turning a blind eye to educational exploitation in Kashmir is because most students in B. Ed colleges are non-locals
Education Remains Casualty Amid Mushrooming of B.Ed Colleges
Zeenat Zeeshan Fazil (Kashmir Images)
Srinagar: Mushrooming of private B.Ed colleges in Kashmir notwithstanding, quality education continues to remain a distant dream even though these colleges are earning huge sums to the owners.
In Kashmir Valley alone, 65 colleges are functioning in private sector and number is likely to go up as experts say these institutes are enjoying patronage of Kashmir University authorities.
Alleging Kashmir University authorities of favoritism in according affiliation of B.Ed colleges, noted educationist Prof. A G Madhoosh told ‘Kashmir Images’ over phone that these colleges do a business of over Rs 450 crores annually, regretting that despite this, there is no worthwhile educational policy for these private B.Ed colleges.
Earlier the role of Kashmir University was confined to that of an evaluator but now it has become part of this business, and extricates huge sums of money from these B.Ed institutions, Prof. Madhoosh said.
He says this has seriously effected the effectiveness of the university as a controlling authority. “When you become part of the business then you cannot question the credibility of these institutions.”
He feels if the monitoring mechanism is strengthened by the government, it will automatically result in quality education.
Most of the students who enroll in private B.Ed colleges in Kashmir come from various north Indian states including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab et al. But now the Rajasthan government too has given green signal to setting up of some 8000 colleges of the education in the private sector there, which means not many students from other states will be coming to study here now.
And consequently, it also means that the private B.Ed colleges in the Valley will now have more local students than outsiders.
Prof. Madhosh says that despite the mushrooming of B.Ed colleges, there is no quality control as far as students’ merit is considered. Just having a B.A degree and after paying hefty amount of around Rs 50,000, anyone can seek and get admission in the course.
“The process of enrolment does not guarantee that those who are admitted can cope with the academic expectations,” says Prof. Madhosh, who also pints out that the lax rules governing these colleges have also ensured that huge amount of unaccounted wealth goes into the hands of few people who own these colleges.
He further alleged that the training imparted to the aspiring teachers in these institutes can also be questioned.
Given that the bulk of the students would come from Hindi-speaking belts of India, Prof. Madhosh informs that the whole syllabi are framed in Hindi while the majority of staff constitutes of Kashmiris who do not have much qualification to teach and train in Hindi language.”
He says it is ridiculous to have teachers lecturing in Hindi language when they themselves don’t know the language properly.
Another flaw is that most of these colleges run in residential houses that do not have proper infrastructure while in many cases the colleges even lack professional teachers as well, which obviously effects the quality of education.
The students of these colleges are also unsatisfied with the running of these institutes. Students allege that college owners are not doing much to overcome administrative and academic problems.
However, Dean Colleges, Nissar Ahmed Shah when asked about this, denied the allegations saying the private B.Ed colleges in Kashmir have “world class infrastructure and as the faculty is appointed by us, so there is no question of any compromise with the quality of education.”