Palakkad: The government would initiate processes to start four-year B. Ed (Bachelor of Education) courses in the state, said Minister for Higher Education R Bindu here on Thursday.

“Four-year B. Ed course is a concept undertaken along with the introduction of a four-year degree course. Discussions will be initiated to carry out such transformation on an experimental basis,” the Minister was speaking while inaugurating the new building of Calicut University Teacher Education Centre at Koduvayur in Palakkad.

“Efforts are being made to make Kerala the hub of higher education. 42 colleges in the state have made it to the top 200 positions in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). That means Kerala has 21 per cent of the best colleges in India. There are about 80 institutions in the state that have obtained A Double Plus, A Plus and A Grade in NAAC accreditation,” said the Minister.

NIRF is a ranking methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India.

The minister claimed that the state government spent over Rs 6,000 crores in the higher education sector in the last four years. “About Rs 1,500 crore rupees could be used for infrastructure expansion in various colleges and universities through KIIFB. For the first time in history, a new curriculum framework was prepared on the model of the higher education sector in Kerala,” she added.