The Centre has been found lacking in its implementation of the four-year teacher-training programme envisaged under the National Education Policy (NEP).

“By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated BEd degree that teaches a range of knowledge content and pedagogy and includes strong practicum training in the form of student-teaching at local schools,” the NEP 2020 states.

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had designed a four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) to be offered to Class XII passouts from 2023-24.

The four-year dual-major undergraduate degree offers BA and BEd, BSc and BEd, or BCom and BEd. The admission to the course is conducted by the National Testing
Agency (NTA) through the National Common Entrance Test (NCET).

However, the NCTE has not allowed private institutions to offer the ITEP so far. These institutions are more interested in two-year and one-year BEd courses, an NCTE official said.

Out of nearly 15,000 teacher training colleges in India, only 42 offered the ITEP in 2023-24 and 64 in 2024-25. According to the latest advertisement for the NCET, the same 64 institutions will offer the programme in 2025-26.

C.B. Sharma, a faculty member at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), said the government’s apathy towards the ITEP would defeat the purpose of the NEP.

“The vision and mandate of the NEP 2020 is to provide every child a well-trained teacher through rigorous four-year training. Any decision to bring teachers trained through one- or two-year training programmes would defeat the purpose,” Sharma said.

An email has been sent to NCTE chairperson Pankaj Arora for his perspective on the slow ITEP implementation. His comments are awaited.