New Delhi, June 5 -- The state Education Department made it mandatory for certain in-service primary school teachers to complete a six-month 'Bridge Course' within a year.
The directive, issued on Thursday, applies to teachers who possess a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree but do not hold a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed or D.Ed.) and were appointed in primary schools between June 2018 and November 2023.
According to sources in the Education department around 6,000 to 7,000 such teachers are currently serving in primary schools across Bengal.
The new notification requires these teachers to complete the Bridge Course online within one year. Failure to do so may result in their employment being invalidated.
This directive follows an earlier notification issued by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in April this year.
The NCTE had directed all states to ensure that in-service primary teachers with B.Ed. degrees complete the Bridge Course within the stipulated time.
As per NCTE's guidelines, the Bridge Course is to be conducted online and through distance learning by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
NCTE on June 28, 2018, issued a notification allowing the B.Ed.-qualified candidates to be appointed as primary school teachers. This eligibility criteria was legally challenged by several states, and the matter escalated to the Supreme Court.
In its verdict on August 11, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that possessing a B.Ed. degree alone is not sufficient for appointment as a primary teacher.
Candidates must also have a D.El.Ed. or D.Ed. qualification. The court further directed that those who were already appointed with only a B.Ed. degree must undergo additional training through a Bridge Course.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.