Image used for representational purpose only.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Uncertainty prevails at the moment in the field of higher education in West Bengal with most universities functioning without a fulltime Vice-Chancellor, and State-run colleges still unsure about the admission procedure and whether they will follow the National Education Policy (NEP).
It’s been almost a week since Class 12 results were declared but the admission process is yet to kickstart in most of West Bengal’s colleges. Among the universities run by the State Government, several are now without a V-C and many others would soon be without one because they have been functioning under acting V-Cs whose terms have either ended or soon come to an end.
The root cause of this situation is the tussle between the State Government and the Governor (who is the Chancellor of these universities) over the appointment of the V-Cs.
This uncertainty hangs at a time when higher education in Bengal is about to witness a transition. This academic year, for the first time, the State Government plans to use a centralised web-based online admission system for admission at undergraduate level in all colleges/universities run by it. But so far there is no announcement regarding when the process will begin. Institutions, at the moment, are busy implementing an order issued last Friday for reserving 10% seats for the EWS, or economically weaker section.
Also this academic year, the institutions in the State were to adopt the NEP, but while several prestigious private universities, such as St. Xavier’s, have made it known that they are going with the NEP, the State Government has not made an announcement regarding this yet.
“We shall follow whatever we are instructed to. The centralised admission appears to be on, but I can’t say anything about NEP, even though the Education Minister says it will happen. More than colleges, it is the students and parents who are concerned. They need some assurance,” said the principal of a Kolkata college, asking not to be named.