Five years ago, the Government extended the duration of Bachelor’s of Education course to 2 years from 1-year and in the following year, B.Ed course will be completely transformed into a 4 years integrated programme. The decision was announced by the Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar on the second day of the conference while addressing the principles of Kendriya Vidyalaya and Jawahar Navodya Vidyalayas. The thought process to make B.Ed an integrated 4-year course, however, began long back.
When introduced first, there was an option available for the students to choose between going for a Graduation degree first and then study 2 years of B.Ed or to study the 4 years integrated B.Ed. The candidate’s disbelief on the system and the poor condition of teacher training resulted in more and more students opting to get graduated first and then go for B.Ed as the last resort.
Another reason for the failure of the 2-year course was that although NCTE had increased the duration of the B.Ed course, they did not make any developments in the curriculum itself. The students repelled as they were being taught the same curriculum as in the 1 year B.Ed course.
Making B.Ed a full time the integrated course was explained previously as a decision to make B.Ed course a choice for the serious aspirants only. As per the course details, the 4 year B. Ed can be applied for right after the 10+2 exams. In the recent announcement by the HRD minister, the purpose of bringing this change received further enlightenment. As per the expert brains behind this decision, 4 year B. Ed programme will save and improve the quality of teaching, going through a period of decadence. The finance minister had also made an announcement about this decision in the previous year’s budget speech.
The change we are about to see will act as a heal for the critical condition of the teacher’s not getting the right training as a part of their teaching programme. Teaching profession is going down at the heels for the students have shockingly started considering it the last resort. It has become somewhat a leftover amongst the well-facilitated programmes. The HRD minister, it this regard, said in favor of the elevation to the 2 year B.Ed course that choosing the profession of teaching must be a professional choice, not some leftover.
As a benefit to the aspirants, the 4 year B. Ed course will save one year as the candidates can apply for it right after completing the 10+2 education against the standard requirement of graduate level education.
