NCTE to Include Counselling in the Curriculum of B.Ed
The National Council for Teacher Education will soon launch a B.Ed course in counselling. The curriculum of B.Ed will be revised after about four decades and hence, NCTE is considering adding an extra course that can help in dealing with the psychological issues of students.
After introducing the four-year integrated course of Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), the NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) will be introducing counselling as a prominent component in the curriculum of B.Ed. The NCTE will soon be deciding on having a dedicated course of B.Ed in Counselling and it is expected to be launched in about 18,000 institutes.
The curriculum of B.Ed is being revised after about four decades and hence, the addition of counselling can also be done to the existing courses. The Chairperson of NCTE, Satbir Bedi, addressed the issue of students of the new generation being prone to stress and some other psychological problems. He said that a team of trained professionals is required for dealing with the psychological troubles of students at school and college level.
Bedi further said that teachers delivering the ongoing B.Ed courses are not equipped with counselling skills, hence, another course of B.Ed in Counselling will be launched soon. Students who come from an academic background in Psychology and are inclined towards pursuing a career as a teacher will be eligible for this course.
The NCTE is also working towards the development of a model B.Ed college in all the districts to train teachers. Bedi said that the model college will aid in guiding other colleges while also setting up an ideal example. The Council has targetted setting up 700 colleges which will train over 70,000 teachers every year.
Also Read: Government Introduces 4-Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme
Bedi continued to talk about another challenge that the higher education sector is facing these days. About 19 lakh teachers graduate from B.Ed colleges every year while the country has a requirement of only 3 lakh teachers. Bedi said that matching this demand and supply is one of the major challenges that the Council has to address.