What death of a degree says about education innovation

THE COURSE DESIGN HAD STRUCK A DEEP CHEMISTRY BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGY, LINGUISTICS AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES. IT WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS STORY IN THE HISTORY OF TEACHER EDUCATION.

- Krishna Kumar

What joy can it possibly bring anyone to stop a successful course? This summer, the B.El.Ed. (Bachelor of Elementary Education) programme of Delhi University will admit students for the last time. It is not the first time that the B.El.Ed course is facing a threat, but now its closure seems imminent. Earlier threats were of a localised nature. But now the highest regulatory body, the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) has announced the end of B.El.Ed. in 2026. NCTE was set up to ensure quality standards in the training of schoolteachers. It is ironical that NCTE wants to close a course that principals of Delhi have praised over the years.

It was imagined by a group of scholars in the early 1990s. Inspiration to design a new kind of training programme came from the Supreme Court verdict in Mohini Jain vs. Karnataka (1992). Although the case was about the exorbitant fee charged in private professional colleges, the verdict drew a bigger picture for the system of education to register. The apex court linked education with the right to life — with dignity. This was a fresh interpretation of education, and it became a turning point. It opened a new pathway in society's frozen neurons. So far education was perceived mainly as an instrument of social mobility and justice.

The fact that education gives dignity on human life and is, therefore, a part of the right to life, was a completely novel idea. It paved the way for recognition of elementary education as a fundamental right. An amendment in the Constitution to this effect and the creation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act were still years away, but a conceptual leap had been made.