In a major change, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry is said to have approved the introduction of an integrated teacher education programme- a four-year Bachelor in Education (B.Ed), which meets the international norms for teacher training programmes across the globe. Though this has been a highly debated issue, students from the city said this is a good move.
According to sources from the ministry, after several consultations with experts and due to the growing demand from the teaching community, the ministry approved the four-year programme which will involve a lengthy hands-on experience training for teachers before they graduate.
Sources said that this approval has been sent to the law and justice ministry for legal vetting of the course, which is expected to come through in the next few weeks.
Across the country, lakhs of students seek admission to B.Ed colleges. The demand is especially high in Karnataka, as it is a mandatory course or a programme for anybody to join a school (private or government) as a teacher.
“If this course becomes a four-year course, then it will save a year for students as they can enroll for the programme right after their second Pre-University (IIPU) examinations. As of now, someone enrolling to B.Ed course should have a Bachelors degree in any stream,” said an academician in the city.
Colleges hope to step up to cope with this change. A former vice-chancellor of State-university told BM, “We cannot continue to have chart presentations, craftwork and copy-paste jobs by B.Ed students. These are the people who go out there and shape our kids’ future. They need to be more creative, adaptive to technology and they need to learn holistically to teach holistically. We need to change our classroom setting, we need to build an atmosphere in a more comprehensive way.”
While B.Ed or any education courses for teachers are governed by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), it is said that the ministry of human resource development will bring in changes in the NCTE Act.
Sources said that the NCTE is on its toes with the process of revamping the syllabus, that can fit in a four-year course duration for B.Ed.
