Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said that there would be a change in the education policy in the coming days saying that the B.Ed degree will not be valid after 2030 and that teachers will need an 'Integrated B.Ed degree'.
Speaking at the Assam Assembly on Friday, Ranoj Pegu said that the teachers will have to take a four-year course of B.A B.Ed or B.Sc B.ed or B.Com B.Ed. similarly, the D.El.Ed diploma will also not be valid after two years, the Education Minister said.
He further stated that the state government has already sent notification to 71 colleges to start the integrated B.Ed course and 3 out of these 71 colleges have been upgraded to Universities and therefore, the government has given its approval to start the course in 68 colleges.
The Education Minister further said that the lack of trained teachers is one of the reasons why Assam is lagging behind the national level index.
According to the data provided by Ranoj Pegu, only 38 percent of teachers are trained in secondary level and the rest 68 percent do not have B.Ed degrees.
The minister also stated that the state has already started the process of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 and budgetary allocation of Rs 17,000 crore would boost effective NEP implementation. Responding to discussions by the ruling and opposition MLAs on the budgetary provisions for education in the State Budget for 2021-22, Dr Pegu hailed Finance Minister Ajanta Neog for making such a huge allocation of funds in the State Budget to implement the NEP, 2020. He said implementation of the NEP will be a long process.
As the NEP 2020 envisages the setting up of universities in all districts in the country Dr. Pegu informed the House that five new varsities would be set up in the State at the cost of Rs 50 crore each. He said the State Government would also make Assam Women's University in Jorhat and the Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management in Sivasagar more progressive. The Education Minister said 2,500 lower primary and Middle English schools in the State would be converted into centres of excellence. For this, each school will receive Rs 50 lakh for overall development.
He further informed the Assembly that his department has 22,921 new posts of teachers for LP and ME schools in the State. The appointment process will start soon, he said.
The Education Minister said that new software will be launched soon in the State to enable teachers to apply online for transfer and postings. He said recommendations of MLAs will not be entertained in case of teachers transfer. The transfer will be done to maintain a healthy teacher-student ratio, Dr. Pegu said.