Bridging Policy and Practice: Feasibility of Open and Distance Mode for Teacher Education in Uttar Pradesh in Light of NEP 2020

Abstract

The state of Uttar Pradesh in India is the most populated state, with both the highest teacher shortage and the highest enrolment in higher education institutions (HEIs), but it has a teacher preparation system that is still overwhelmingly campus-based. It explores the possibility of open and distance mode teacher education to overcome that gap in the context of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It poses two questions: Do the demand and supply situation in the state warrant distance-mode expansion, and what is the extent to which distance-mode expansion is constrained in practice by regulatory and quality-assurance factors? It is a secondary data and policy document-based design where it brings together official data, collected by AISHE, UDISE+, and NCTE norms, and then analyzes two propositions based on the data. On the demand side, findings reveal an acute shortage of over 1.9 lakh vacant school-teaching posts and a distance-education base, which serves millions of people, making it feasible. Optimism is tempered, however, by the fact that distance education is mostly used for in-service upgrading, as required by regulatory limits. The paper suggests a calibrated, in-service-first expansion with a more robust accreditation system to best balance the policy's desire with realities on the ground.

Keywords: NEP 2020; teacher education; open and distance learning; Uttar Pradesh; feasibility