•Proposals from FMU and KKS Women’s College to Open New ITEP Courses Under NCTE Consideration

Balasore, Sept 20 (Krushna Kumar Mohanty): Raising a starred question in the Assembly on Friday, Basta MLA Subasini Jena sought information from the government on how many government teacher education colleges are currently functioning in Odisha. She pointed out that every year thousands of students from the state are compelled to pursue B.Ed courses outside Odisha due to limited availability of government institutions. She asked why, despite having adequate infrastructure, the state government has not opened more government B.Ed colleges. Jena further inquired whether there is any proposal to establish another government teacher education college in Balasore, where only one such institution exists, though the number of educated youth in the district is steadily rising.

Replying to her, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj informed that there are 16 government teacher education colleges under various universities across the state. These institutions currently enroll 1,700 students in the two-year B.Ed program. In addition, 15 other colleges and universities admit about 750 students in the same course, taking the total annual intake to 2,450 students for the two-year program.

Besides this, 550 students are pursuing the four-year Integrated B.Ed/Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP) in three colleges and three universities. A three-year integrated B.Ed and M.Ed course is also available in four universities, with 200 students enrolled each year. Thus, nearly 3,200 students in total undergo B.Ed training annually in Odisha.

The Minister added that following the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the state has begun prioritizing the four-year ITEP course over the traditional two-year B.Ed program. Further, five government colleges and one university are running the two-year M.Ed course, accommodating around 300 students each year.

To enhance quality teacher education and increase intake capacity, the government has directed various institutions to apply for approval from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). Accordingly, steps are being taken to raise the seat capacity by 1,550 from the academic session 2026–27.

Specifically for Balasore, proposals from Fakir Mohan University and Kuntala Kumari Sabat Women’s College to start the ITEP course from 2026–27 are currently under consideration with the NCTE, the Minister confirmed.