NGO alleges fraud in affiliation process of private teacher education colleges
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO working on transparency in governance, has filed a complaint with the State government, alleging serious discrepancies in affiliation inspection records of private teacher education colleges affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) for the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Referring to records obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005, the organisation said that at least 15 inspection committee conveners conducted in-person inspections in two to five colleges on the same day – March 29, 2023.
The complaint said one of the conveners conducted in-person inspections at five colleges on the same day. What was baffling was the fact that the total distance between these colleges stood at over 500 km, said M. Radhakrishnan of Arappor Iyakkam.
Similarly, at least 22 members of inspection committees were found to have conducted in-person inspections in two colleges on the same day. Some of the colleges were too far from each other to be covered within a day.
Moreover, five professors have been recorded as principals of two colleges during the same period, the organisation said in a release. It also found that the names of 37 faculty members, with the same names or initials, appeared across 222 college entries. One of the names (including initial), interestingly, appears in 11 college entries, while at least four other names appear in eight college entries each.
While not a proof of wrongdoing per se, these discrepancies raise serious questions that should be verified against original records, it said, and urged the government to conduct an independent inquiry into inspection reports, videos, attendance registers, travel and expense records, and faculty appointment and salary records.
It also demanded a probe into the managements of 74 colleges that received affiliation during 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Sources at the Higher Education Department stated that the records submitted were voluminous and required time to study. However, if the evidence pointed towards a prima facie case, a detailed inquiry will be conducted.
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
