Fewer colleges, but Bengal scores in teachers

Kolkata: Bengal may have a fewer number of colleges compared to other states in the country, but it has over 10,000 teachers in colleges across the state. Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roychowdhury said there are 9,672 permanent teachers in 419 colleges in the state.

The department also pays salary to nearly 3,171 part-time teachers. The teachers-students ratio in the colleges in the state is 1:67. He was speaking at a symposium on ‘Education in West Bengal: The Road Ahead’ organised by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce on Friday. To effectively monitor higher education, the minister said the state government will come up with a proper inspectorate to take stock of academic activities in colleges.

“We are not in favour of officers inspecting the colleges but we will take the help of academicians and teachers and even students to take a performance-based test for colleges,” said Roychowdhury. The department has already introduced an academic performance index based on the performance of the colleges in the Gour Bengal University, he said. “We had earlier approached the HRD ministry for financial help to nearly 50 colleges in the state in the last plan, mostly in the backward and minority-dominated districts, but our request was rejected saying that the colleges were not set up in the time limit specified by the ministry,” said Roychowdhury. ENS