Union education minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday launched a six-month bridge course in Primary Teacher Education (PTE) for in-service primary school teachers holding a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree, giving them a “one-time opportunity” to retain eligibility to teach Classes 1 to 5 in line with the Supreme Court’s April 2024 directions.
Launched two years after the apex court’s directions, the course is designed by the teachers education regulator National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and will be offered through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in online mode. The bridge course addresses a long-running dispute over the qualifications required for primary school teachers. The move follows the Supreme Court’s April 8, 2024 judgment which ordered NCTE to devise a bridge course for teachers appointed at the primary level with a B.Ed. degree but without a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) qualification. The course is meant for teachers appointed between June 28, 2018 and August 11, 2023 under an NCTE notification issued in 2018. After clearing the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET), a two-year D.El.Ed. course pursued after Class 12 qualifies a candidate to teach Classes 1 to 5, while a two-year B.Ed. degree pursued after graduation is designed to prepare teachers for Classes 6 to 12. The eligibility window — June 28, 2018 to August 11, 2023 — corresponds to the period during which an NCTE notification allowed B.Ed. degree holders to be appointed as primary teachers. June 28, 2018 was the date on which NCTE issued the notification, while August 11, 2023 was the date on which the Supreme Court struck it down, holding that a B.Ed. degree could not be treated as an equivalent qualification for primary teachers and observing that the pedagogical training required for Classes 1 to 5 differs from that needed for higher classes. The data available on the NIOS bridge course portal show that of 67,529 registrations received, but only 66,312 applications were approved by state nodal officers after document verification including more than half – 33,755– from Uttar Pradesh. candidates can write the theory examination in any of the 22 scheduled languages While instruction will be in Hindi and English.
Comprising six theory subjects and a school-based practicum, the course provides a “robust framework to connect educational theory with classroom practice” and “will strengthen primary-stage pedagogical competencies through academic learning” while enabling teachers to “cater to the diverse learning needs of young children,” the ministry of education said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry said the course would be delivered through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode and include contact programmes, school-based practicum, video tutorials and e-learning materials.
In-service teachers availing the “one-time opportunity” must “complete the course commencement of course of NIOS” and failure to do so “will invalidate their appointment, according to an August 2025 NIOS notification. It added that the qualification would only protect existing employment and “will not be valid for those teachers seeking subsequent employment as primary teachers”.
