According to DU Registrar Vikas Gupta, the Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed) program will be replaced by the newly introduced Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), as per reported by The Indian Express.

Gupta stated that both courses will run parallelly this year, and if there is a positive response, B.El.Ed will be discontinued. He mentioned that three colleges, namely Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, Jesus and Mary College, and Mata Sundri College, have received approval from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to initiate ITEP this year.

Gupta explained that every course has its durability, citing the example of the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) ending after the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). He added that existing teachers are qualified to teach the new course, and colleges have provided a list of teachers approved by the NCTE.

However, in a recent meeting held by the Department of Elementary Education, faculty members expressed concern over the decision to replace B.El.Ed with ITEP. While they agreed with the proposal to introduce ITEP in accordance with the NEP, teachers argued that it should not replace the existing program. The minutes of the meeting stated that faculty members unanimously decided to continue with the B.El.Ed program and that any new course should be introduced as an addition to the present program, not as a replacement.

ITEP is a flagship program of the NCTE under the NEP and was launched in 57 teacher education institutions from 2023-24.