You should not exist, court tells teacher education regulator

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Wednesday slammed the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) for its failure to regulate private colleges imparting teacher training courses and said it had no right to exist.

The virtual censure of the NCTE came when its member secretary Hasib Ahmed told the court that the regulator has imposed a complete ban on giving any further recognition to private institutions.

“There is a difference between regulation and prohibition,” the court said.

“Ban means that your regulatory authority has failed. It is a poor commentary on you. You should not exist,” said Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly.

The court said agencies regulating education, be it in any field, were in such a situation because they were packed with retired bureaucrats who have no idea of promoting education.

The court asked Ahmed how many retired bureaucrats were there in NCTE.

The court said it was “only in India and nowhere in the world” that retired bureaucrats adorn agencies created for regulating education.

The court said bureaucrats have a mind-set of “accommodation” and that practice was getting “infused” in the education system.

Ahmed appeared before the court in pursuance of its direction Tuesday to tell what action was taken by the NCTE against the former regional director, western regional committee for his “fraudulent actions” of issuing letters of recognition to private B.Ed. colleges in Madhya Pradesh in breach of the NCTE Act, 1993.

When Ahmed said that the former regional director was an official of the rank of chief secretary, the court asked him if they were subservient to the retired official.

The court asked Ahmed to file an affidavit stating all that he told the court orally within three days.

The court asked Ahmed to do so after speaking to NCTE Chairman Mohammad Siddiqui.

The court also asked the education secretary of Madhya Pradesh to submit a list of the colleges offering B.Ed. and M.Ed course affiliated to six universities in the state within 10 days.

The Barkatullah University will also submit a list of colleges affiliated to it, the court said.

The court’s directions came during the hearing of petitions filed by private colleges.

The colleges are seeking directions to seven universities in the state to declare the results of students who were provisionally admitted by them during the academic year 2007-08.

The court asked the contending parties to file their written submissions, if any, along with any suggestion they might like to make for incorporation in the final order.

The court said its final direction would not be confined to Madhya Pradesh only but would be effective for the entire country.