Blacklisted and 'defunct' college to test BEd students

In a curious turn of events at Bangalore University, a blacklisted college that subsequently declared itself ‘defunct’ was given permission to conduct practical examinations for a bachelors in education (BEd) degree.

Bangalore University’s BEd Task Force had blacklisted the Jnanavikas College of Education (JCE) along with ten other institutions affiliated to BU.  The college management had recently told the media that their college was ‘defunct’. They maintained that all allegations made by the B.Ed Task Force were baseless.

Even so, JCE received permission to conduct practical examinations from both Registrar (Evaluation) R K Somashekar and  Roopmala Koneri, chairperson of the Board of Examinations. Nine of the eleven blacklisted colleges were given permission to conduct the exams.

The Task Force was even reportedly attacked by members of the JCE management and a complaint was lodged on August 8. In its report, it mentioned that JCE did not even have a building from where it could function.

JCE was given permission to conduct tests on September 14. They are permitted to conduct practical exams for 100 students enrolled for in their B.Ed course.

Permission granted

St Joseph’s College of Education, another blacklisted college also received permission to hold exams.

Task Force members who recently went to inspect the college told Deccan Herald the
college did not exist at the address mentioned in the records.

Members involved in the inspection as part of the Task Force said the submissions required from students as part of the course work were mere replications of previous year’s work. In some colleges one submission was photocopied with new names inserted.

Visits to colleges revealed that most students were from Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Though they were studying in an English-medium course, they apparently knew only their regional languages.

“If they do not comprehend English or Kannada, how are these colleges giving them practical exam marks for teaching students in Bangalore?” asked  a Task Force member who did not want to be identified. In some instances Task Force members found students with return tickets to their home towns — they had arrived only to take the exams without having attended classes.

Task Force members said attempts to contact principals of some of the blacklisted colleges were unsuccessful as their whereabouts were unknown.