HRD Ministry to Launch 4-Year Integrated B.Ed Course from Next Year

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has scrapped the two-year Bachelor of Education programme (B. Ed) which was introduced three years ago. In the place of the popular education-related course, HRD has introduced a four-year integrated teacher training B. Ed course.

Anil Swarup, School Education Secretary was in talkswith the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to rework on the syllabus for the new 4-year integrated B.A.- B.Ed, B.Com-B.Ed and B.Sc - B.Ed courses, which has finally paid off. This ruling comes amidst Lok Sabha passing an amendment Bill on teachers education. As of now, B.Ed course is of two-year duration.

New Four-year B.Ed Course Structure

• B.Ed course will be a four-integrated programme and will be offered at two levels -Pre-Primary to Primary level and Upper Primary to Secondary Level.
• The new B.Ed course will be conducted in three streams B.A., B.Sc and B.Com.
• The reworked BEd curriculum would be prepared by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
• NCTE has invited applications from interested institutions to include BEd- 4 years duration programme in their curriculum from next year onwards.
• Candidates who have already completed their bachelor's or master's degree will have a grace period wherein they can do a two-year BEd course or a three-year integrated BEd + MEd course.

Poor teacher salary and extreme teacher-student ratios in government schools are only a few of the problems making the teaching industry the last career choice for many meritorious students. Therefore, to improve the same 4-year integrated B.Ed programme is going to be launched.

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Arun Jaitley, Former Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs had made an announcement in his Education Budget 2018 speech on 1st February 2018 regarding the introduction of the revamped course model for the new integrated B.Ed programme.

The HRD Ministry is in the process of formulating the National Education Policy and the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017, will amend the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993. According to this Act, the government will give retrospective recognition to certain teacher education institutions. It will also sanction retrospective permission to start new courses/training in teacher education.

The change in the teacher training courses has come about following some discrepancies in the teacher education system. Mr. Javadekar mentioned cases of misunderstanding, communication gaps and laxity in the way the education was being provided, hence the need ad urgency to develop a systematic and conclusive course.

The 4-year B. Ed course will be offered in the following capacities:

• B.A (B.Ed)
• B.Sc (B.Ed)
• B.Com (B.Ed)

Candidates can apply for the four-year integrated teacher training programme right after completing their class 12th. It has also been highlighted that the new programme would be formulated on the lines of other professional degree courses such as MBBS and B.Tech. The reason behind the introduction of a new integrated B.Ed programme is that the HRD Ministry only wants capable and serious candidates to apply for the B.Ed courses.

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At present, India has 18,600 institutes that offer B.Ed courses, of which, about 1000 institutes are run privately. And all of these institutes have gone unmonitored so far. So the government has asked them to submit affidavits wef facilities & achievements. In response to this, the HRD Ministry has received about 8,700 affidavits. The remaining have been issued show-cause notices. This move will hopefully streamline and better the quality of B. ed education in India in keeping with the new 4-year B. Ed guidelines.

B.Ed programme, as of now, is of two years duration and is also pursued through distance learning or correspondence. The B.Ed degree is mandatory to obtain in order to practice teaching in high schools and primary schools. National Council for Teacher Education is the statutory body that works towards regulating teaching courses in India. The minimum qualification to apply for the current B.Ed programme is a Bachelor’s degree in any field from a recognised university.