Is the one-year BEd a step back?

Many senior teacher educators think so

- Shradha Chettri

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is reintroducing the one-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Master of Education (MEd) degrees. If its draft policy is approved, institutions will also be allowed to transition existing two-year BEd and MEd (full-time) programmes.

Educators see the draft policy, now placed in public for comment, as a “regressive move” that will completely “dilute” the quality of teacher education and take it back to what it was before 2015, when the two-year BEd and MEd were introduced.

They became two-year programmes with new regulations in 2014, a reform that's now being reversed.

What changes

In case of the one-year BEd, the two semesters will include school internship, field-based experiences and practice teaching along with academics. The one-year MEd includes research dissertation with instructions that the summer should be used for field attachment and practicum - the practical section of the curriculum - and other activities.

The norms propose that the National Testing Agency (NTA) conduct a standardised subject and aptitude test for admission to the one-year BEd, MEd as well as their existing two-year and part-time versions. However, there is no clarity on whether there will be a separate test like the NCET in case of the four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) or be part of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) UG and PG.

The draft NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2025, also has norms for four new specialisations of ITEP - art education, yoga, physical education and Sanskrit.

The ITEP combines a degree in a regular discipline with a teaching qualification for an integrated BA BEd, BSc BEd or BCom BEd programme.

BEd syllabus, subjects