New Delhi: The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has proposed to discontinue the Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed) programme, a four-year degree course in elementary teacher education, from the 2026-27 academic session.
According to the draft NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2025, released for public feedback, no fresh admissions will be allowed for B.El.Ed after 2025-26.
Institutions currently offering the programme must transition to the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) before the next academic session.
NCTE Chairman Pankaj Arora stated, โAdmissions will continue for B.El.Ed this year, but from 2026 onwards, the programme will transition into ITEP in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.โ
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ITEP, a four-year integrated teacher training programme (BA B.Ed/ B.Sc B.Ed/ B.Com B.Ed), was launched in a pilot phase in 2023-24 and will now be a regular offering with specialisations in Yoga, Physical Education, Sanskrit Education, and Art Education.
In 2023, Delhi Universityโs Academic Council approved the replacement of B.El.Ed with ITEP. Currently, around 90-95 institutions across India offer the B.El.Ed programme.
The draft regulations also introduce a nationwide entrance test by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for B.Ed and M.Ed admissions.
While CUET-UG and CUET-PG currently govern these admissions, the final modalities of the new test are still under discussion.
NEP 2020 mandates that by 2030, the minimum qualification for teaching will be a four-year integrated B.Ed degree with a strong focus on pedagogy and practical training.
Institutions wishing to offer B.Ed courses must either already run ITEP or implement it by 2030.
โThe goal is to make ITEP the primary teacher education programme in the country,โ Arora said.
