The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is set to allow BEd colleges to offer a one-year course that it discontinued a decade ago over quality concerns.
The NCTE had suspended the one-year BEd course in 2014 based on the recommendations of two expert panels — one headed by Justice J.S. Verma and another by Prof Poonam Batra — highlighting the poor quality of teacher training.
The teacher education regulator had increased the duration of the BEd course to two years, including 20 weeks of mandatory internship in schools.
The NCTE recently set up two committees to suggest the structure of the one-year BEd course and revamp the existing two-year BEd course.
NCTE officials said the National Education Policy (NEP) allows flexibility in higher education courses. For example, students can complete graduation in either three or four years. The changes in teacher education programmes are also being carried out in sync with the NEP. Those pursuing BEd after four-year graduation would be allowed to do a one-year course while those taking a three-year UG programme will have to do a two-year course. Those with a Master’s degree will also have to do a one-year BEd course. The regulator has also allowed select institutions to offer a four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme for those who have passed Class XII.
Experts have expressed concern over the NCTE’s move to bring back the one-year BEd course.
Jitendra Sharma, who retired as a professor from a teacher-training college in Rajasthan, told The Telegraph. “The students who pursue four-year graduation in science, arts or commerce do not get any exposure to teacher training. Even if they have done a four-year graduation programme in academic areas, there is no justification to give them one-year relaxation from the teacher-training course,” Sharma said.
He said a minimum of two years were needed to impart teaching methodology to students who are already proficient in academic areas. “There has been no consultation on this move to introduce one-year BEd,” he said.
Ramesh Ghanta, a retired professor of teacher education at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, said: “The Kothari commission in the 1960s was not happy with the one-year BEd. It is a fact that such a course was not sufficient to equip students in all aspects of training to handle teaching responsibility.
