The fiat has drawn the first blood with University of Pune deciding to call it quits in its battle to save the 350 seats of Bachelor of Education (BEd) ``vacation course.'' With this the process of ``curtains down'' has begun for the immensely popular and highly successful two-year course especially meant for in-service teachers in the State.

Speaking to The Indian Express, dean of Education Science Jagannath Kalhapure expressed the university's helplessness in convincing the NCTE authorities that the course should not be scrapped. ``We pleaded our case before the council but the efforts have failed. We have no option but to stop the admissions for BEd vacation course from next academic year and scrap the course from the list of courses offered by the university''.

The NCTE's notification has dealt a severe blow to thousands of in-service teachers belonging to primary, secondary and higher secondary sections who aspire to obtain the BEd degree of the State universities for the regularisation of their services. Their fate now lies sealed with the NCTE's ``no'' to vacation courses.

While University of Pune has a sober score of 350 seats the major losers lined up in the queue include the Shivaji University, Kolhapur which will have to scrap a whopping 2,000 seats of vacation BEd course.

The higher education department has appealed to the council to make necessary provisions for the regularisation of the course.

``The State Government has requested the council to reconsider its decision and in its place issue guidelines, within a framework of which the universities' can continue to offer vacation BEd course,'' said K P Sonawane, director of higher education. ``Once the norms are set the universities can implement them,'' he said admitting that so far the council has not accepted the State's request.

Meanwhile, NCTE's notification has also raised doubts about the correspondence BEd offered by the open universities. In the eye of storm is the fate of 2,500 seats of Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University's (YCMOU) BEd course, which has been a great success eversince its inception in 1992.