7000 teachers to join BEd

Siliguri, April 24: The state government will impart a two-year B.Ed course in distance education mode to around 7,000 in-service teachers who teach from classes V to VIII in north Bengal. The 7,000 teachers will be accommodated in 35 B.Ed colleges affiliated to the North Bengal University and Gour Banga University. The initiative is part of a Bengal government project to train 29,515 upper primary school teachers without B.Ed across the state by March 31, 2015. The Right to Education Act, 2009, stipulates that all upper primary teachers should have B.Ed by March 31, 2015. The state higher education department has adopted the syllabus and teaching materials of Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) for the project. The Calcutta-based Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU) is the nodal university to co-ordinate with the state varsities to implement the project. “We have chosen North Bengal University and Gour Banga University in Malda to co-ordinate the activities of 35 B.Ed colleges under them and implement the course for untrained teachers. Around 7,000 of 29,515 in-service teachers are from six north Bengal districts. These teachers will be accommodated in any of the B.Ed colleges under the NBU or Gour Banga,” Subha Shankar Sarkar, the vice-chancellor of the NSOU, told a press conference at NBU today. Sarkar was at NBU as a resource person of a workshop organised to sensitise principals and faculty of the 35 B.Ed colleges to the implementation of the two-year distance course to the in-service teachers. He said efforts would be made to ensure that teachers in north Bengal were accommodated in the colleges in their home district. “The teachers who need the training have been identified through a survey. The admission process will start in May and classes are likely to start in July,” Sarkar added. The National Council of Teachers Education, New Delhi — a central government body which oversees the system of teachers education across the country — has approved the programme. Sources said the teachers’ study cost would be borne by the state government. In Bengal, the upper primary teachers teach at secondary and higher secondary levels also in certain cases. Chandra Bhusan Sharma, a professor at the education department of the Ignou, said classes would be held during summer and winter vacations and at the weekends. “There will be 1,000 hours of face-to-face teaching through teleconferencing, counselling in class rooms and workshops. The candidates enrolled in the programme will get study materials and in case of doubt in any topic, they can consult us during the face-to-face interactions. There will also be radio and television broadcasts and web-casts,” said Sharma, who was also a resource person at the workshop. Share on email Share on print Share on facebook