Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi Launches 6-Month Bridge Course To Certify B.Ed Primary Teachers

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi launched a six-month certificate (Bridge) course in Primary Teacher Education (PTE) to empower teachers with the skills and capacities necessary to ensure quality education and lifelong learning for students, an official said on Thursday.

The Bridge Course, launched on Wednesday, will be implemented through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and will equip teachers with child-centred, inclusive and development-appropriate teaching practices, strengthening the quality of education at the foundational and primary stages, the official added.

The course is tailored for in-service primary school teachers who hold a B.Ed. degree. It will serve as a critical pathway for such teachers to attain certification to teach at the primary level, the official said in a statement.

This specialised professional development programme will provide comprehensive training to help teachers to develop the necessary skills and competencies to effectively educate learners at the primary level (Classes 1 to 5), it said.

"Designed as per the framework of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), the course will strengthen primary-stage pedagogical competencies through academic learning, at least 10 days of online contact classes and at least 20 days of school-based experience," the statement said.

"The course will enable teachers to cater to the diverse learning needs of young children. Comprising six theory courses and a school-based practicum, the programme provides a robust framework to connect educational theory with classroom practice," it added.

The Bridge Course aims at empowering primary teachers with the skills, attitudes and reflective capacities necessary to ensure quality education and lifelong learning for all children in primary classrooms. It promotes a vision of teaching as a dynamic, context-sensitive, and inquiry-based profession.

The Supreme Court of India vide judgement dated April 8, 2024, in Civil Appeal No. 5068 of 2023 titled Devesh Sharma Vs. Union of India and Ors., had empowered NCTE to devise a bridge course for those appointees who were appointed as primary teachers but did not have D.El.Ed qualification.

Accordingly, the Bridge Course was designed for in-service primary school teachers appointed between June 28, 2018, to August 11, 2023, to teach at the primary level (Classes 1 to 5) with a B.Ed. degree.

This course is specifically intended for those teachers whose appointments are protected under the NCTE Gazette notification dated June 28, 2018.

The programme includes both theoretical and practical components aimed at foundational learning principles.

The medium of the instruction would be Hindi and English languages.

However, the teachers will be allowed to write the Public Examination (Theory) in any of the 22 scheduled languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)