B Ed: An experience of a lifetime!

“I wanted to have a professional qualification and had received positive feedback about the BEd course at CIE,” says Deepika. Her choice turned out to be an experience of a lifetime, socially and intellectually. “The BEd course had the power to entice even the most introverted to come out of their shell. And I greatly value the opportunity I had to interact with people from diverse academic backgrounds,” she says.
 

The second rank that Deepika bagged in her batch was a testimony of the level of her involvement in the demanding, activity-packed process of being groomed to be a school teacher. The offer of a teaching position that she has recently been offered in a government school is the icing on the cake, even though she also has the option of pursuing a Master’s in English.
 

 

• One-year professional course to be pursued after graduation : "BEd is a professional course that prepares teachers for upper primary or middle level, secondary and senior secondary classes at the school level,” according to the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE). It is usually a one-year course that can be pursued only after a Bachelor’s degree. There has been some discussion of the proposal to increase the course duration to two years to ease the very ‘crowded’ nature of the BEd programme which packs a lot of theory, activities and practicum in a single year.

• Eligibility : Most of the institutions require the candidate to have secured a minimum of 50 per cent in graduation. One can also join BEd after doing Master’s degree.

• Specialised Variants : Also available are specialised variants of BEd, such as BEd (Home Science Education) and BEd Special Education (Mental Retardation) offered by Lady Irwin College of the Delhi University. In addition to a regular BEd, BHU offers a BEd (Special) programme which trains student-teachers to teach children with disabilities. Jamia Millia Islamia (Delhi) has a BEd(Nursery) course which prepares teachers for pre-primary and lower primary levels of schooling. A BEd along with a Bachelor’s degree qualifies you to become a Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) who can teach up to class 10. And a BEd with a Master’s degree makes you eligible to be a Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) who can teach classes 11th  and 12th.

 

Demand for BEd

• Shortage of 1.2 million teachers: There is a shortage of about 1.2 million teachers at the primary and middle levels and about two lakh at secondary level (i.e. classes 9 and 10), according to official data, suggesting the huge demand for BEd and other teacher training courses. These shortages should be seen in the context of the Right to Education Act which lays down the teacher-pupil ratio of 1:30 and prescribes strict standards of recruitment of teachers.
   
• Educational administration & Consulting: Today, a BEd degree can be matched to a variety of career options other than just school teaching, thanks to the fast changing economy. If you try, you may land a job at organisations that are engaged in educational administration, promotion, research, regulatory and consulting work, such as National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), Educational Consultants India (EdCIL), and UNICEF.
   
• Private sector: The growth of commercial private sector in education, represented by companies like Educomp Solutions and Everonn Education, has expanded the choice of careers for BEd degree-holders.
   
• Content writers & Counsellors: There are also employers who need academic content writers and academic counsellors. BEd degree-holders may also like to study further and become teacher educators themselves.
   
• Recognition: BEd programme must be recognised by the NCTE otherwise it will not be considered valid for employment under the central and state governments or colleges, universities, and schools aided by them. 
   

Colleges of education have traditionally been dominated by students of humanities, but the BEd course has lately been attracting students of an increasingly wider range of academic backgrounds. “Media professionals, MBA graduates, air hostesses and people from a variety of professions are choosing to pursue BEd owing to more and better prospects, not just in India but also overseas,” says Dr. Renu Malaviya of the Department of Education at Lady Irwin College, Delhi University.

“People from a variety of professions are choosing to pursue BEd owing to more and better prospects, not just in India but also overseas” says Renu Malaviya of Lady Irwin College

 

Interestingly, BEd is greatly favoured by women who marry defence personnel; school teaching is one of the few professions that allow them to accompany their frequently transferred husbands without the fear of a complete breakdown of their careers.  cognition

The profession of school teaching, in the public as well as private sector, is widely affected by government regulations, including the salaries. The Sixth Pay Commission, for example, has recommended a hike of Rs 12,000-13,000 in monthly salaries of school teachers. 
 

“Currently, a TGT of a government-run school can earn Rs. 26,000 per month while a PGT can take home as much as Rs. 38,000 per month, even at the entry level. The salaries are even better in some of the prominent private schools,” says Malaviya.
 

Dr. Saroj Sharma, the Dean of the School of Education of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (Delhi), says the abilities of potential teachers are assessed in terms of the objectives of education. “It is the cognitive, affective and psycho-motor domains (the classification of educational objectives proposed by American educationist Benjamin Bloom) that influence the selection of a teacher. They translate into the abilities to facilitate understanding, to motivate, to demonstrate, and to help students learn by doing. These qualities are integral to the teaching profession,” she says.
 

Anjali Aggarwal, Principal of St. Mark’s Senior Secondary Public School (Delhi), believes that a BEd degree is not enough to get you a job since recruiters look for personal drive and enthusiasm like they do for any other employment, “Patience, the willingness and ability to learn, to evolve continuously and get better with the passage of time is important,” she adds. In other words, school teaching cannot be a half-hearted job. It demands full involvement and ceaseless effort on the part of the teacher.

 

Content The BEd course consists of certain foundation or compulsory courses, choice of electives, and practical components. At University of Delhi, for example, the BEd course has the following structure consisting of theory and practicum  Part A: Theory Course I: Basic Ideas in Educational Theory Course II: Educational Psychology Course III: Modern Indian Education: (A) Its development and recent history (B) Its organisation and practice (C) Health Education Course IV: Methodology of Teaching (Two school teaching subjects, such as Chemistry and Maths) School Teaching Subject -I School Teaching Subject – II Course V: Compulsory Elective (Some of the available compulsory elective subjects are Art Education, Basic Education, Career Guidance, Computer Education, and Education of Backward Children) Part B: Practicum School Experience Programme (SEP) and Practical Skills in Teaching School Teaching Subject – I School Teaching Subject – II Sessional Practical Work (divided as follows) : (a) Practical School Assignments  (Such as ‘special aspect of the school’ and ‘syllabus criticism’)  (b) Tutorial Work (c) Psychology Practicals (d) Visual Education (e) Work Experience (f) Co-curricular Activities (including Physical Education) (g)  Community Work

Myths

Some of the exciting changes that the BEd course, as also the entire school set up, has undergone in the last few years have been with the objective to support innovation. For example, Lady Irwin College uses in its BEd classrooms electronic ‘smart boards’ which are designed to be used for a variety of tasks other than just a surface to write on.

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University says it makes extensive use of information and communication technology and innovative practices such as micro-teaching. All said and done, the question remains: Why do people choose to be school teachers?

“For the incredible satisfaction of teaching and nurturing students only to have them come back, express their gratitude to us for the success they have achieved, and to seek our blessings for future ventures,” answers Dr. Neelima Asthana, Head, Department of Education, Lady Irwin College, New Delhi. That should sum up the teaching profession for the discerning.