Teacher Education under NEP 2020

Teacher education is the professional preparation that equips teachers with subject knowledge, teaching skills and supervised classroom experience. NEP 2020 envisages its shift into multidisciplinary higher education institutions, with the four-year integrated B.Ed. as the principal degree pathway and differentiated routes for candidates who already possess higher qualifications.

Degree pathways and entry qualifications

The policy prescribes different programme durations according to a candidate's previous education, rather than a single identical course for all entrants.

• By 2030, the policy states that the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a four-year integrated B.Ed., combining education with a specialised subject.
• A two-year B.Ed. will be offered to candidates who already hold a bachelor's degree in a specialised subject.
• A one-year B.Ed. may be offered to candidates with a four-year multidisciplinary bachelor's degree or a master's degree in a specialised subject who wish to become teachers in that subject.
• The integrated programme is conceived as a dual-major bachelor's degree in education and a specialised subject, allowing subject preparation and professional preparation to develop together.

Institutional location and delivery

Teacher preparation is to become part of multidisciplinary higher education, rather than remain isolated from other academic disciplines.

• By 2030, all teacher education institutions are required to convert into multidisciplinary institutions because teacher education needs disciplinary knowledge alongside educational theory and practice.
• All B.Ed. programmes are to be offered only by accredited multidisciplinary higher education institutions.
• Accredited institutions offering B.Ed. programmes may also offer open and distance learning programmes in blended mode for learners in remote or difficult-to-access locations and in-service teachers upgrading their qualifications.
• Such blended programmes must include suitable arrangements for practical training, mentoring and student teaching.

Curriculum, practicum and professional standards

The programme must connect subject knowledge and pedagogy with school-based practice, so that a teaching qualification is not merely a theoretical credential.

• Preparation should cover sociology, history, psychology, early childhood care and education, foundational literacy and numeracy, and knowledge of India and its values, ethos, arts and traditions.
• All B.Ed. programmes must include strong practicum training through student teaching in local schools.
• The policy also provides for shorter post-B.Ed. certification programmes for specialised teaching areas or movement between school stages.
• A National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education is to guide preparation, with NCTE, in consultation with NCERT, responsible for its formulation.