DU’s plan to replace B.El.Ed: Academics write to V-C Singh

Writing to DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh, the representatives from the body have expressed their “alarm at plans” to replace B.El.Ed with the Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP). The letter comes a day before the varsity is set to hold its Academic Council Meeting which will decide the fate of the course.

The letter states, “Despite a constitutional commitment to prioritise elementary education, in contemporary India, governments of all stripes have neglected the country’s schools. Elementary school teachers mostly receive only rudimentary, sub-degree-level training. This is typically provided in stand-alone diploma- awarding institutions (DIET) or in low-status university B.Ed programs segregated from the academic mainstream.”

It further stated, “By comparison with the B.El.Ed programme at Delhi University, ITEP thus represents a significant dumbing down. It reflects a conception of the teacher as a mere conduit for delivering pre-approved subject content, rather than as socially responsible and autonomous professional capable of interpreting and adapting the curriculum and inspiring her pupils. Teaching in the ITEP mode threatens to become a robotic exercise in ‘transacting the text’.”

The DU Registrar did not respond to messages seeking a comment on the letter.