BHUBANESWAR: The Higher Education Department will offer various teachers’ training courses in eight universities and 17 Government colleges of the State from the ensuing academic session of 2016-17. The courses include Bachelor of Education (BEd), BA BEd, BSc BEd, Master of Education (MEd) and Integrated BEd and MEd.
The State Government has recently given no objection certificates (NOCs) to the selected universities and colleges to begin the courses on a self-financing mode following an approval by the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE), the academic authority under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
The eight universities are Utkal, Berhampur, North Odisha, Fakir Mohan, Sambalpur, Ravenshaw universities besides the Sri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and the new State Open University. Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of these universities have been asked to create infrastructure facilities and appoint teachers for the purpose.
Principals of the Government autonomous colleges, which include BJB and Rajdhani in Bhubaneswar, Sailabala Women’s College in Cuttack, SCS in Puri, Rajendra College in Balangir and FM College in Balasore, have been asked to approach the NCTE to begin the courses on a pilot basis. The colleges should have adequate infrastructure and faculty to open the teacher training course.
The State does not have adequate number of training institutes to meet the growing demand for teachers. At present, the State has 16 independent Government teacher training colleges having 1,728 seats - 15 institutions with 1,628 seats under School and Mass Education department and another with 100 seats under SC and ST Development department - to impart BEd course. These 16 colleges are affiliated to five State-run universities like North Odisha, Sambalpur, Fakir Mohan, Berhampur and Utkal. Two other universities - Sri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Central University of Odisha - also provide in-campus training on BEd. Besides, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar provides two-year teacher training course.
Apparently, Odisha is the only State where there is a ban on private teacher training colleges imparting BEd course since 1982. To maintain quality education, BEd course cannot even be provided through distance mode as per a directive of the NCTE.