BHUBANESWAR: A whopping 1,29,712 students have applied for admission to just 2,750 BEd seats and 1,651 students for 300 MEd seats, in a grim pointer to the demand-supply gap in teacher education in the state.
Currently, there are 31 higher education institutes, including government colleges and standalone teacher education institutes, which offer BEd, MEd and BHEd (Bachelor of Hindi Education). The demand for teacher education courses is high among female candidates than male aspirants. This year, 86,093 female candidates have applied to pursue BEd while it is only 43,612 in case of male aspirants.
The application, though, is only 1,936 in case of BHEd. While 11 of the institutions have 100 BEd seats each, three have 150 seats and the rest have 50 each.
The state also offers a three-year Integrated BEd-MEd programme in four universities, Rajendra University, FM University, Sambalpur University and MSCB University, with a combined seat strength of 200. Last academic session, 3,000 students had applied for this course.
A member of Odisha Secondary Teachers’ Association, requesting anonymity, said the number of seats in the existing 31 institutes should be increased to accommodate more students, with permission of the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) and keeping in mind the teachers requirement. “Despite the ongoing recruitment, the vacancies in teacher posts are high at primary level. More teachers need to be appointed to maintain the student-teacher ratio of 25:1 and tide over the vacancies that would arise out of retirements in future,” she said.
In 2024-25, Odisha’s Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) in government schools was an overall 23:1 but with variations at school levels, as per the UDISE+ report. The PTR is 19:1 for both primary and upper primary schools, and 23:1 for secondary schools.
Higher secondary grades have a PTR of 42:1. Higher Education department officials said as per policy decision, private colleges cannot be allowed to offer BEd courses owing to quality concerns. With National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) in place, the focus is now on reviewing teacher education in the state.
Hence, the department has decided to launch Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), which aligns with NEP, from 2026-27 academic session. The ITEP will be a four-year course and allow students to pursue BEd after Plus II. It will be a dual-major undergraduate programme that combines a major in education with a major in a different subject areas.
Students can either earn a BA BEd or BSc BEd or a BCom BEd degree from the ITEP. It will be opened in Utkal University, Ravenshaw University, Gangadhar Meher University, FM University and SCS College.