Chandigarh, June 24
In a complete volte-face to a major decision communicated last week, the Punjab Government has decided to continues with plus-two classes in colleges at least in the forthcoming academic session.
A few days back, a government communication had spelt out clearly that no college in the state would be allowed to admit students in the plus-one class in the forthcoming academic session. This put a big question mark on the status of hundreds of students who were already admitted in colleges. Colleges also complained of having spent lakhs in upgrading the facilities in laboratories and recruiting more staff that would have been rendered “useless”.
The government concession of allow admissions to the plus-one class in the forthcoming academic session was confirmed by Mr Harnam Das Johar, Minister for Higher Education, while talking to The Tribune. He said the move to remove plus-two classes from colleges was not initiated by the present government. It was a University Grants Commission recommendation that had come a few years back.
Mr Johar said it was found that schools did not have the satisfactory facilities available for the practical classes, especially in the science subject. This would have rendered the whole exercise futile. Student interest was prime to the state so it was not considered wise to shift the classes to schools under the existing conditions.
Sources in the education department said colleges were not justified in claiming that classes should not be shifted to schools because the teaching had already begun. The Punjab School Education Board declared its matriculation result only a few days back, so, it was not fair on the part of the colleges to have gone ahead with the admissions, before the results were out. This was obviously on exercise to book the maximum admission.
Principal Tarsem Bahia of A.S.College, Khanna, said the Punjab government decision not to shift the classes from colleges to school was a wise step in the direction that the schools did not have enough infrastructure to support teaching in senior classes. The school laboratories would have lacked in the apparatus and sufficient chemicals. Colleges had spent a great deal on arrangements for plus-two classes which would have gone waste. Now with more time given, academician and planners could put their heads together and sort out the problem in a manner that “no one’s interest is harmed and feasibility of the implementation is also taken care of.”
This is a welcome step for the time being, said Principal P.S.Sangha, General Secretary of the Federation of Principals of Non-Government Affiliated
Colleges (Punjab and Chandigarh), however, the decision needs to be studied in all its dimensions before any final decision, he added.
Mr M.L. Aeri, Principal of DAV College, Amritsar, in a press release welcomed the government’s decision and said there would be no dharna outside the office of the DPI(Punjab) tomorrow. Dr Dinesh Talwar, a fellow of Panjab University, welcomed the government’s decision, saying the government should first have a survey of ground realities before any change.
Prof Satish Sharma, a lecturer at Arya College, Ludhiana, said many colleges in rural areas had expressed their helplessness to continue without conducting admissions in the new session.
