Page 28 - EW December 2020

Education News

graduate students of arts and science, legislative assembly election sched-
engineering, agriculture, fisheries uled for early May.
and veterinary colleges and universi- The leadership of the ruling AIAD-
ties statewide. It’s also applicable to MK party which will fight the forth-
students in undergraduate and post- coming assembly election in alliance
graduate medical and paramedical with the BJP, which is making a huge
courses. The government has also giv- comeback in peninsular India, is con-
en the green light to reopen hostels for fident that its optional college atten-
final-year students of these collegiate dance policy will win it the state’s not
programmes. inconsiderable youth vote, as it has
However, the state’s 37 universi- warily treaded middle ground on this
ties, 552 engineering colleges, 449 issue.
polytechnics, 566 arts and science col- Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai)
leges and 50 medical colleges, which
partially reopened after nearly eight WEST BENGAL
of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has Anti-incumbency
months of lockdown because of fear
infected 793,000 citizens and killed
11,822 statewide (December 7), are mountain
experiencing thin student attendance.
Although somewhat disappointed ith only six months to
by this tepid response, college admin- go before the legisla- which about 2.5 lakh candidates have
istrators and faculty are not crestfall- Wtive assembly election is registered, will be held as soon as the
en. “The longevity of the pandemic is held in West Bengal next summer, Coronavirus pandemic eases in 2021.
not yet clear. So, until the anti-Covid chief minister Mamata Banerjee These teacher recruitment an-
vaccine comes into the market, par- is seeking a third five-year term in nouncements have generated some
ents and students are hesitant about office for the Trinamool Congress euphoria in West Bengal which
in-campus classes. Therefore, it’s best government. But it’s up against a has witnessed widespread protests
that final year students who need to resurgent BJP which bagged an by the rising number of educated
complete their projects and interact unprecedented 18 seats (out of 42) unemployed. However, opposition
with faculty should have the option to in last year’s Lok Sabha election, and parties claim that only 35,000 of the
come to campus. Rather than students has set a target of 200 (out of 294) 120,000 graduates who passed TET
being forced to attend, it’s better that seats in the next legislative assem- 2014 got jobs until 2018, after which
colleges resume classes in a phased bly. To woo the public, Banerjee has recruitment was stalled by several
manner. Meanwhile, we are adhering announced several education sector high court orders following a spate
to prescribed protocols to safeguard initiatives to the electorate which ac- of writ petitions alleging examina-
the health and safety of students who cords unusually high importance to tion malpractices and favouritism in
come to the campus. For now, we are public education. selecting TMC cadres and sympathis-
restricting campus visits to final-year To start with, several government ers. Against this, the total number
students so they can complete their colleges in Kolkata have slashed of teacher vacancies in the state’s
education and be prepared for em- admission fees by almost 60 percent 92,000 government primaries is esti-
ployment,” says Prabhakaran Go- for undergraduates, citing financial mated at 75,000. Meanwhile even af-
palakrishnan, principal of KCG Col- hardships suffered by middle class ter the November 11 announcement,
lege of Technology, which has 2,000 households during the pandemic. the additional number recruited is
students and 250 teaching and non- More recently on November 16,500 which will leave the remain-
teaching staff on its muster rolls. 11, Banerjee announced that of ing 3,500 qualified candidates in the
Meanwhile, semester examina- the 120,000 graduates (out of 2 lurch.
tions are being planned for mid-De- million) who passed the Teacher According to Tulsi Masant,
cember and the general expectation Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014 — convenor of the DL.Ed (diploma
is that with Covid-19 infection and 100,000 have been shortlisted for in elementary education) Students
fatalities reducing daily and mass vac- appointment. In addition 16,500 Forum which has been protesting the
cination around the corner, final year will receive appointment letters TMC government’s inertia in teacher
students will be sufficiently prepared from government soon. Moreover, recruitment, Banerjee has prioritised
to write their final exams in April-May she also announced that the next doles and freebies for voters over fill-
as per the usual calendar before the TET exam (scheduled for 2017) for ing teacher vacancies in government

28 EDUCATIONWORLD DECEMBER 2020