-Baishali Mukherjee

The Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) course will soon return to its former one-year duration across the country. Earlier, in 2014, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) extended the B.Ed course duration from one year to two years. However, this led to a rapid decline in the number of students enrolling for the course. Currently, in many states of India, including West Bengal, teacher recruitment is irregular. As a result, the interest in pursuing the course, which requires double the expenditure over two years, has decreased. Therefore, NCTE is pl;anning to relaunch the B.Ed course in its previous one-year format. However, not all B.Ed colleges of the country will be able to start this course immediately.

NCTE Chairman Pankaj Arora has acknowledged that the declining number of students in the B.Ed course is one of the reasons for considering a reduction in the course duration. The aim is to make it more attractive among the aspiring teachers of the country. However, he also mentioned that only students who have completed a four-year degree course or hold a postgraduate degree will be eligible to apply for this course.

Moreover, institutions having an Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP) in place will be allowed to start this course immediately. The opportunity will primarily be given to the 64 multidisciplinary institutions across the country. Additionally, institutions committing to start multidisciplinary courses by 2028 and ITEP by 2030 will also be granted permission to offer this course. NCTE will take feedback from various sectors on these ideas and plans, with the consultation process lasting for 21 days.

In West Bengal the four-year Integrated B.Ed course is already available in some of the private colleges. At Babasaheb Ambedkar Education University (BAEU), the new integrated course format has not yet been introduced, though the process for launching this course has begun. The infrastructure for starting this course in the government colleges of the state has also been reviewed by the West Bengal Department of Higher Education. However, academics of the state suggest that while one-year B.Ed courses may be introduced in BAEU and in few other institutions, it is unlikely that this opportunity will soon be made available broadly across all institutions of the state.

According to a section of teachers and educators of Bengal, such decisions appear hasty and inconsistent.They argue that at one moment, there is a push for extended integrated programs, and the next, the duration of professional courses is abruptly shortened, which they feel are attempts to attract media attention rather than taking serious efforts in implementing well-planned reforms. Some have embraced the announcement, arguing that the need to spend two additional years on the B.Ed course after completing a four-year undergraduate program—making it a six-year commitment—may discourage many from pursuing it. They also believe that NCTE should relax the conditions for launching the one-year course. Additionally, some academics advocate for a similar one-year D.El.Ed program, which would be a more time- and cost-effective option for the country’s unemployed youth.

Also read: West Bengal adopts two-pronged approach to boost school education