A section of students and teachers of the Delhi University have opposed the process of ”replacing” the B.El.Ed course with the Centre’s Integrated Teacher Education Programme, claiming that the move would lead to a deep dilution of the standards required to prepare school teachers. The university is planning to slowly scrap the in-house unique Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) programme. The Delhi University was the only varsity to have its own integrated four-year programme.
Three colleges of the Delhi University will adopt the Centre’s four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) for the upcoming academic year. A section of teachers and students alike has opposed the scrapping of the course.
Student group SFI said scrapping a well-reputed programme such as the BElEd is ”not only illegal, but also academically and professionally irrational”. ”The university should come clear on why it is coercing colleges into replacing the BElEd with ITEP?” the SFI said in a statement. In a press conference Wednesday, a section of teachers alleged that it was not clear whether the decision to replace the existing Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed) programme in eight colleges with the new course over the next two years, as is listed in the agenda of the Academic Council meeting, was approved by the college governing bodies, the Committee of Courses and the Faculty of Education in accordance with the procedure.
The press conference was addressed by Prof Poonam Batra ( former faculty member, CIE, DU), Prof Anita Rampal (former Dean Faculty of Education, CIE, DU) along with senior faculty members from CIE and various affected colleges such as JMC, Gargi, Mata Sundri and Miranda House. ”If ITEP is to be commenced in pilot mode, it can be offered in any college of the University of Delhi. Why is it being imposed in colleges that are conducting the BElEd? The real reason for coercing BElEd colleges into starting the ITEP is the UGC and DU’s unwillingness to appoint new faculty required to teach ITEP,” the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) said.
”There are close to 50 vacancies in the education faculty teaching the B.El.Ed. After a very long time, the DU has advertised these vacancies. The imposition of ITEP will seriously impact adhoc and temporary faculty teaching in substantive posts for several years,” the teachers’ body claimed. ”The ITEP offers only one year of professional training after three years of general education. The ITEP’s imposition violates the laws protecting universities’ freedom to create their own curricula,” the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) said.
”We oppose the plan to eliminate B.El.Ed and replace it with a different course that will not adequately prepare teachers. The justifications stated by DU for discontinuing these courses, such as a shortage of faculty, are abhorrent,” it claimed. ”We urge the teachers and students’ body of DU to come together against this move and save B.El.Ed course and education of India,” the SFI added.
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