31-05-2025
Over 1 lakh applications for only 2,000 BEd seats across Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: A whopping 1,29,712 students have applied for admission to just 2,750 BEd seats and 1,651 students for 300 MEd seats, in a grim pointer to the demand-supply gap in teacher education in the state.
Currently, there are 31 higher education institutes, including government colleges and standalone teacher education institutes, which offer BEd, MEd and BHEd (Bachelor of Hindi Education). The demand for teacher education courses is high among female candidates than male aspirants. This year, 86,093 female candidates have applied to pursue BEd while it is only 43,612 in case of male aspirants.
The application, though, is only 1,936 in case of BHEd. While 11 of the institutions have 100 BEd seats each, three have 150 seats and the rest have 50 each.
The state also offers a three-year Integrated BEd-MEd programme in four universities, Rajendra University, FM University, Sambalpur University and MSCB University, with a combined seat strength of 200. Last academic session, 3,000 students had applied for this course.
