Srinagar, July 22: Only one student from Jammu and Kashmir has been enrolled in 500 Elementary Teacher Training Colleges of the Jammu and Kashmir killing the very purpose of the Training Course in the state, sources said.
 They said in 2009 among some 30,000 candidates who appeared in the ETTC examination conducted by the Board of School Education only one candidate  hails from JK. It is mandatory for the institutions registered to provide ETTC course to take 75 per cent students from the state and 20 percent from outside. “It is strange that Board of School Education and the Secondary School Education are putting all their efforts and energies to train students from other states and the cost is being borne by the state exchequer,” sources said. “
Though the officials here claim that seat for ETTC can be secured only by merit through centralized list, the situation on the ground states otherwise. There over 400 colleges in Jammu and nearly 70 in Kashmir. Alone in Jammu district there are 145 institutions imparting ETTC. 
Sources said the colleges have been mostly established in the rented buildings, at times rooms, and the candidates were being given certificates after the completion of the course without attending colleges. “The concerned department has deliberately kept lower merit as selection criteria. Through touts candidates from Haryana, Punjab and Himachal are lured to submit forms in the colleges with the assurances that the certificate will be delivered to them without attending institutions,” sources added.
Even the Board of School Education which conducts the ETTC examination in its website says: “Applicants are warned against cheating by unscrupulous agencies, who may put out misleading advertisements in Newspapers or approach by other means assuring seats for two year elementary Teacher Training (ETT) Course, for monetary consideration.” 
“Each candidate is being charged Rs 60,000 and above for a course which otherwise requires only Rs 14000,” said a top government official. He said students after securing admission in these colleges came only to appear in the examination.  The Ghulam Nabi Azad Government had banned the ETTC sensing the malpractice but the ban was lifted. 
When contacted the Minister for Education Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed said: “There might be some faults but I am trying my best to streamline it. Lack of interest among local candidates was major reason responsible for far less number of candidates from Jammu and Kashmir being enrolled in ETTC colleges.”
He said Right to Education Act when implemented in the state would make it mandatory for all the candidates who want to go for teaching to have ETTC course training. Sayeed said more and more ETTC institutions should open in Kashmir. He said rules have been established and only those institutions which adhere to rules would be provided registration.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST