Ludhiana, June 7 -- A delay in the issuance of the Punjab government's notification for Bachelor of Education (BEd) admissions has triggered concern among educators and college administrators, who fear that the academic session for teacher training institutions could be pushed back by nearly a month this year. The notification for admissions to BEd colleges for the 2026-27 academic session, which is generally released by the department of higher education in mid-May, was issued only on Friday. The delay has led to apprehensions that the entire admission process, including entrance examinations, counselling and enrolment, may be affected, resulting in a late start to the academic session. Higher education director Harsuhinder Brar said there was no specific reason behind the delay in issuing the notification. "The academic session will not be affected," he said. As per the notification, Punjabi University, Patiala, has been designated as the competent authority to conduct the Common Entrance Test (CET) and centralised online counselling for admissions to BEd colleges affiliated with Panjab University, Chandigarh, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Punjabi University, Patiala. Educationists pointed out that the BEd admission process is a lengthy exercise involving multiple stages, including the development of admission software, constitution of committees, invitation of applications, conduct of entrance examinations, verification of documents and counselling. Any delay in the initial notification, they said, inevitably affects subsequent stages. Gurmit Singh, an educator at the Malwa Central College of Education for Women (MCCEW), Ludhiana, said the delayed notification could have a cascading effect on the academic calendar of teacher training colleges across the state. According to educators, uncertainty surrounding the admission schedule had already created anxiety among aspiring students. Several educationists said they had repeatedly approached officials in the department of higher education and urged them to issue the notification at the earliest to avoid disruption of the academic calendar. The notification states that Punjabi University will shortly release a detailed schedule for the CET. As per the admission criteria, candidates belonging to the general category must secure a minimum of 25% marks in the CET to qualify for admission. For candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories, the minimum qualifying requirement has been fixed at 20%. Gagan Thapa, chairperson of the committee overseeing the BEd admission process at Punjabi University, said the university had initiated groundwork despite the delay in the government notification. "The notification was probably delayed due to elections. However, the university has already constituted the required committees and started preparatory work. We expect the CET to be conducted in July. While there may be some impact on timelines, we do not anticipate a major disruption," he said....