Many B Ed Colleges in CG at risk to lose affiliation by NEP 2020 guidelines

 

 

 

 

 

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is poised to bring a change in teacher training programs, posing a survival challenge for many standalone Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) colleges, particularly private unaided institutions, across Chhattisgarh. The new guidelines mandate that from 2026-27 academic session, B.Ed, M.Ed and Diploma in Elementary Education courses will exclusively be offered by interdisciplinary colleges, those that also provide undergraduate courses in Arts, Science, Commerce, Management, and other disciplines like B.A., B.Sc., B.Com, BBA and BCA.

 

Currently, Chhattisgarh has 136 colleges offering B.Ed courses, with 65 of them being standalone institutions. These standalone colleges, which either offer only B.Ed or a combination of B.Ed, M.Ed, and Diploma in Elementary Education, will need to integrate interdisciplinary courses such as Arts, Science, Commerce, and Computer studies to continue offering B.Ed programs.

 

This will come as a hurdle for many, as their current operations are run with limited infrastructure and faculty, primarily focused on education-specific courses. Transforming into an interdisciplinary college would necessitate a substantial investment in infrastructure and the recruitment of a diverse faculty covering various streams of Commerce, Computer Science, and Arts/Science. Sangeeta Bhojane, Principal of a B.Ed College, highlighted this challenge, stating, the college is now required to offer a basket of a variety of courses from different streams to ensure interdisciplinary learning for students.

 

But there are many standalone colleges offering traditional B.Ed course alone. They cannot offer this interdisciplinary service and thus are wary of their survival. The impact of this policy is already being felt. For the current academic session of 2025-26, standalone B.Ed colleges have not been permitted to offer the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), a dual-major program that allows students to specialize in both education and another chosen discipline. This has further fueled fears among these institutions of losing their B.Ed program affiliation and, consequently, their very existence. In response to this looming crisis, authorities of B.Ed colleges in Chhattisgarh are reportedly holding meetings through various organisations to explore solutions.

 

One proposed adjustment includes entering into Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with nearby colleges that offer a variety of courses, aiming to facilitate the required interdisciplinary learning through collaborations. While Hemant Kumar Sao, In-charge of B.Ed education and executive in the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), was unavailable for comment, another officer, S. Tamboli,