Academic Outcry Grows Over NCTE Plan to Discontinue B.El.Ed. Programme

In a major development that could chart the destiny of teacher training in India, fifteen globally respected education scholars from all over the world have penned an open letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan calling upon the government to rethink its plan to withdraw the Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) programme. The letter, written on Monday, vehemently opposes the National Council for Teacher Education's (NCTE) draft regulation proposals aimed at phasing out B.El.Ed. by the 2026–27 session and introducing the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP).

The decision comes at a time of increasing unease among scholarly circles regarding what has been termed an "ill-considered" policy change. The B.El.Ed. programme, launched by Delhi University in 1994, is an innovative four-year integrated undergraduate degree specially tailored for elementary education. It has since found acceptance by approximately 30 institutions nationwide. Over the course of three decades, it has earned a reputation for academic seriousness, a robust practicum, and a curriculum that combines disciplinary study with pedagogy.

Some of the signatories to the letter are internationally renowned scholars like Prof Edward Vickers (UNESCO Chair, Kyushu University), Prof Robin Alexander (University of Cambridge), and Prof Michael Apple (University of Wisconsin). These teachers, several of whom have been on the editorial advisory board of the NCTE's Indian Journal of Teacher Education, termed the proposal to replace B.El.Ed. with ITEP as "counter-productive," cautioning that it risks undoing decades of development in elementary teacher education.

"B.El.Ed. is a highly regarded teacher education programme that has stood the test of time over three decades," the letter read. "Discontinuing such a programme that is known for its excellence is counter-productive. Innovation is good when it builds upon what exists—not when it replaces tested models without appropriate thought."

ITEP, also an integrated course with four years of duration, came into operation under the aegis of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that stipulates minimum qualification of teachers at all levels as four-year integrated B.Ed. from the year 2030. Under pilot mode launching in the years 2023–24, ITEP has now begun operation in central, state, and selected state-affiliated universities, IITs, NITs, and colleges.

But critics point out that ITEP, being in its early stages, lacks the depth, foundation, and historical heritage of the B.El.Ed. programme. Former DU education dean Prof Anita Rampal, one of the chief architects of the B.El.Ed. curriculum, labelled NCTE's proposal as "shocking and short-sighted."

This course was initiated to fill an integral lacuna in the education system—there was no rigorous graduate-level training in teaching elementary class teachers prior to B.El.Ed.," said Prof Rampal. "We developed this course from ground zero and continued to enhance it year after year. Substituting it with ITEP, which has not yet shown similar outcomes, is likely to compromise the quality of teacher education.

The international scholars echoed similar concerns, noting that B.El.Ed. integrates subject knowledge, child development, pedagogy, and field-based practicum in a manner that few teacher education programmes globally can match.

“B.El.Ed. is renowned in India and abroad as an exemplary, world-class teacher education programme. It has empowered a generation of teachers with deep academic grounding and pedagogic competence,” said the letter.

Other signatories are Prof Paul Morris (UCL Institute of Education), Prof Yusuf Sayeed (University of Cambridge), Prof William Pinar (University of British Columbia), Prof Martin Carnoy (Stanford University), and Prof Angela Little (UCL), among others. These voices are some of the most esteemed institutions in international education policy, curriculum studies, and teacher education.

What has particularly troubled these experts is that the B.El.Ed. course is not merely another degree—it represents a long-overdue change in India's strategy for elementary education. For decades, B.Ed. courses concentrated largely on secondary education (Classes 9–12), with a crucial gap in teacher training for Classes 1 to 8, which now constitute the bulk of the Right to Education Act's mandate.

The NCTE draft rules that came out in February 2025 have raised alarm not only over their content but also over the pace of proposed implementation. With DU already declaring its admission procedure for ITEP from the 2025–26 academic year, the academic fraternity fears that B.El.Ed. could soon be pushed into oblivion without a proper analysis of the implications.

"Scrapping B.El.Ed. without a clear, evidence-based review erodes both India's teacher education system and the autonomy of institutions that have developed this programme," the scholars cautioned.

As India prepares for a significant overhaul of its education system under NEP 2020, the demand to preserve and enhance B.El.Ed. raises a pressing question to policymakers: Does progress require substituting what works, or does it require improving and expanding it?

The NCTE and the Ministry of Education have not officially replied to the letter as yet. Still, with the academic heavyweights having their say and student bodies likely to fall in line, the debate about the future of B.El.Ed. is anything but over.