Around 57 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) colleges in West Bengal have moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the state government's decision to stop their admissions, news agency IANS reported on Monday. The colleges say the authorities issued no explicit notice outlining the specific reasons behind stopping their admissions.

Source: IANS

An official confirmed on Monday that the petition is likely to be taken up for hearing on Tuesday, November 10.

A challenge to last week's freeze

The court move is the latest development in the admission freeze Awaaz Punjab reported last week: after joint inspection drives by the Higher Education Department and the Technical Education Department across B.Ed, ITI, Polytechnic and Pharmacy colleges, the state published a list of institutions found ineligible for affiliation renewal for 2026-27. State authorities said 205 B.Ed colleges failed to meet the prescribed infrastructure and administrative standards and were barred from admitting new students for the 2026-28 session.

Following a second round of inspections, 237 B.Ed colleges were approved to admit students for 2026-27, while the remaining 205 — including the 57 now before the High Court — were barred from enrolling fresh batches, IANS reported.

Source: IANS

The government has said institutions that resolve their infrastructure and faculty shortages can re-apply to prove their eligibility for the 2027-29 academic cycle. Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay has previously said the commercialisation of education would not be permitted and that academic quality standards must be strictly maintained.

What the High Court decides will determine whether the 57 colleges can resume admissions this session or must wait and re-apply for the next cycle after fixing the deficiencies the inspections flagged.