College teachers under the banner of Darjeeling district Congress education cell will start a demonstration at North Bengal University

Siliguri, July 29/TT: College teachers under the banner of Darjeeling district Congress education cell will start a demonstration at North Bengal University from Tuesday if appropriate measures are not taken by then to admit 277 candidates to eight BEd colleges under the university.

“The university should take the initiative to admit 277 students selected through the centralised BEd cell to eight colleges under it immediately. Currently, the college teachers are busy with the under-graduate examinations and hence, cannot participate in the agitation. However, we have given time to the varsity authorities till Tuesday when the exams get over. If they fail to solve the crisis, the college teachers will start an indefinite agitation on the campus,” said Sandipan Bhattacharya, the vice-president of the district Congress education cell.

There are eight BEd colleges under the university —four private and the remaining government-sponsored. The private colleges had refused to admit 277 candidates chosen in the first phase of counselling conducted from May 2 to May 11.

This happened after Calcutta High Court stayed the second phase of counselling from May 16 on a PIL filed by two of the private colleges.

The colleges objected to the “non-transparent procedure of admission under the centralised BEd system” and told the court they “were kept in dark about the introduction of the new admission system”.

Although the stay was only on the second phase of the counselling, the private colleges said they would not start classes until the high court gave the final verdict.

The government-sponsored BEd colleges began classes from July 1, with 273 candidates admitted to these institutions.