Prodded by the government, three more IITs and NITs will this year introduce a programme that not just involves areas outside their expertise but attracted a lukewarm response when launched by six IITs and NITs last year.

This is the four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), which offers BA-BEd, BSc-BEd, or BCom-BEd degrees and was started in 2022 at various universities following approval from the National Council for Teacher Education.

While the principal objective of the IITs and the NITs is to provide advanced technology education, the education ministry got two IITs and four NITs to introduce the BSc-BEd course under the ITEP last year.

The ITEP allows Class XII pass-outs to pursue an undergraduate degree in science, commerce or the arts along with a bachelor’s degree in teacher training. These seats are filled on the basis of the National Common Entrance Test (NCET).

The IITs in Kharagpur and Bhubaneswar and the NITs in Agartala, Calicut, Warangal and Puducherry could fill just about half their BSc-BEd seats last year.

This year, IIT Ropar, IIT Jodhpur and NIT Trichy will be joining their ranks, offering the BSc-BEd course with 50 seats each, according to the NCET information bulletin.

The programme allows students to exit after three years with a BA, BCom or
BSc degree.

It’s doubtful whether all the students would continue to pursue the teacher education component in the fourth year, said Jeetendra Sharma, retired faculty member of a teacher training institute in Jodhpur.

If many students exit with a BA, BCom or BSc degree after three years, it will be a setback to the effort to produce quality teachers, he said. Sharma said it was unwise to push the IITs and NITs to offer courses outside their area of expertise.