MHRD to clamp down on B.Ed colleges

The union Ministry of Human Resource Development will clamp down on "shops" run in the name of B.Ed (Bachelor of Education) colleges, a minister said here on Friday.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the ministry had sought affidavits from the B.Ed colleges with complete information about their courses, structure in the colleges and criteria for admissions.

"Around 7.000 colleges have been sent these affidavits," he said.

He said an integrated B.Ed. course was being started soon to produce the "best teachers" in the country.

The ministry was concerned that thousands of B.Ed qualified teachers were being churned out by colleges without ensuring quality education for these teachers.

He underlined the need for "a herculean effort to carry out a revamp of the education system and ensuring that every child is imparted quality education".

Batting for the improvement in infrastructure of government schools, Javadekar cited Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas as good examples in quality education.

Javadekar said the states had been given the authority to decide about detaining or not students failing in the 5th and 8th standard board exams conducted in March and June.

He also highlighted the need to impart education in native languages besides English.

--IANS

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