NAGPUR, June 23: The Chief Minister, Manohar Joshi, has assured a delegation of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) that the decision to hike the fees of B Ed will be reviewed by the government during the next Cabinet meeting.

A delegation of the Vidarbha Pradesh ABVP, led by Vinod Pusadkar, secretary of the unit and Narendra Pawar, secretary of the State unit met the Chief Minister at Mumbai recently. Datta Rane, State Minister for Higher Education was present on the occasion.

The ABVP has been constantly agitating against the fee hike for the B Ed courses, all over the State.

A Press release said the delegation told the Chief Minister that the fee hike was affected through pressure on the government from management of the organisations running the courses. They also said that the government did not comply with the rules regarding the fee hike as per the National Council of Teachers Training (NCTT) Act, 1993.

The delegation also demanded that action be taken against the managements of the B Ed colleges not being run efficiently. The Chief Minister directed the Education Minister to immediately issue notice of closure to the colleges which are being mismanaged and assured that fee hike will be reviewed by the government.

The government agreed to the demand of the ABVP to file a review petition against the ruling of the High Court to recover the fee difference from the student who have been admitted to the free seats of the non-aided colleges.

The delegation further requested the Chief Minister not to consider the B Ed course as a professional course, but as a training course essential for the betterment of secondary education. The delegation also demanded that education grant be provided to the students belonging to the backward class.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.