Expansion of Integrated Teacher Education Programmes (ITEP) in India: Regional Distribution, Institutional Participation and Emerging Trends

Abstract

The Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) is one of the major structural reforms in Indian teacher education under the National Education Policy 2020. It seeks to move pre-service teacher preparation into multidisciplinary higher education institutions through a four-year dual-major degree combining education with an academic discipline. This study examines the expansion, regional distribution, institutional participation and emerging trends of ITEP in India using official data from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), the Ministry of Education and the National Testing Agency (NTA). The analysis covers the pilot launch in 2023-24, the second recognition phase in 2024-25, and the updated list of participating institutions for NCET 2025. NCTE launched the programme in 42 institutions in 2023-24. A further 22 recognition entries were recorded for 2024-25, producing an aggregate of 64 across the first two phases. The initial NCET 2025 information bulletin listed 64 recognized institutions, while the updated NTA notice of 16 June 2025 listed 77 institutions. Regional analysis shows that the Northern and Eastern Regional Committees each accounted for 25 institutions in the updated list, followed by the Western Region with 14 and the Southern Region with 13. Assam alone accounted for 17 of the 77 institutions, showing a sharp concentration of recent expansion in the Eastern Region. The 2023-24 capacity profile was also strongly weighted toward the secondary stage, which represented 62 of 79 approved units and 3,100 of 3,950 seats. The study concludes that ITEP is moving from a limited public-sector pilot toward a broader and more diverse institutional system, but balanced regional growth, stronger representation of foundational and middle-stage preparation, and close monitoring of actual enrolment and programme quality remain important policy priorities.