The Department of Education, Patna University was established as a separate department for postgraduate teaching and research in 1954. Prior to this, Master of Education (M.Ed.) programme was running in the Patna Training College, Patna University, since 1934. The Patna University has the distinction of being the first university in the country to start postgraduate teaching in teacher education. In 1954-55, separate postgraduate departments came into existence as a result of the new Patna University Act 1951. The Postgraduate Department of Education was started in a newly constructed building adjacent to Patna Training College. The Department of Education is a centre of paramount importance in the field of Teacher Education in India. Except Patna university no other university in Bihar has a postgraduate department of Education. The department of education prepares professionals for Teacher Education Institutions (TEls). Continuing its glorious past the department is engaged in performing higher level functions in the field of Teacher Education. The main functions, which the department is performing, are: • Preparing teacher educators to meet the requirements of the TEIs of the country in general and of the Bihar in particular. • Preparing skilled manpower for research in education and the related areas. • Preparing professionals with high sensitivity towards women and other marginal groups of the society. • Increasing the corpus of knowledge in the field of education through high quality researches. • Providing professional support to SCERT, SIET, DIETs, UNICEF and other voluntary organizations engaged in innovative practices, alternative teaching programmes, training and research in school education. • Providing professional support to various distance and open learning programmes of IGNOU, Nalanda Open University (NOU) and Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), running in the state. The Department has a separate building located at Baripath, Dariyapur adjacent to the Patna Training College. It has one of the richest libraries of its kind in the country. A substantial number of books and journals are added regularly to the college library mainly from the UGC fund. The library has a seating capacity of nearly 40 students. Students are admitted on the basis of performance in the combined MEET (Master of Education Entrance Test) conducted by the Patna University. Test is open to all eligible students of the country. Fifty percent reservation is available to SC/ST and OBC students of the state. Three percent reservation is also given to students with visual, orthopaedic and hearing disability. The department switched over to two year M.Ed. programme of four semesters from the session 2015-17. The curriculum was revised as per new NCTE curriculum framework for two year M.Ed. programme. The existing curriculum provides sufficient space for strong theoretical underpinnings, Empowering Professional Capacity (EPC) and internship of nearly 6 weeks in TEls and institution/organization engaged in development of innovative curriculum and pedagogic practices or an international/national/state institution involved in curriculum design; text-book development; educational policy planning, formation and implementation; educational administration and management, and to provide an opportunity for reflection and writing on the same. The curricular and co-curricular activities are planned at the beginning of each semester by the student committees. The activities of the previous semester are reviewed in order to get feedback for better planning in the current academic session. The academic calendar thus prepared serves as a guide for the institution for undertaking various activities. Collaboration with other Institutions The institution has active collaboration with various governmental and non-governmental organizations. The college has collaboration with IIT, Mumbai, NUEPA, New Delhi, IGNOU, NOU, BBOSE, SCERT, UNICEF, Red Cross Society, IATE etc. for specific purposes. Ensuring Students’ Participation through Committees The institution has a democratically elected various student committees like Seminar Committee, Cultural Committee, Health and Hygiene Committee, Sports Committee, and Environment Committee. All committees are supervised and guided by a teacher. Our students organize several awareness programmes in health and environment. They also organize cultural and sports events. Publication and Research Activities An annual research journal in Education namely University Journal of Education is published by the office of the Dean of the faculty. The teachers of the Department have several books and scholarly papers in various national and international journals. All the teachers are engaged in research activities and guiding researches for Masters and doctorate degrees in education. The Department has made a significant contribution in the domain of knowledge in the following areas: Inclusive Education, Philosophy of Education; Teacher Education; Psychology of Education; Sociology of Education; Information & Communication Technology in Education; Value Education; Educational Measurement & Evaluation; Yoga Education; Educational Administration; Guidance & Counseling; Environmental and Women’s Education

First Head: Dr R. Prasad

Present Head: Dr. Lalit Kumar