New edu minister says teachers' quality depends on competence, empathy: 'AI shouldn't replace human values'

Joshi said teacher competence and empathy are key to education quality, while urging responsible AI use without replacing human values.

Updated on: Aug 18, 2026, 13:04:00 IST

By Sanjay Maurya, New Delhi

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Union education minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday said the quality of education depends on the competence and empathy of teachers, underlining their central role in implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and building a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047.

Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi said teachers’ competence and empathy are central to education quality and urged responsible use of AI at the NCTE event (PTI)

Addressing the National Council for Teacher Education’s (NCTE) 32nd Foundation Day celebrations through a video message, Joshi said, “Educational quality rests on the competence and empathy of our teachers” and highlighted the role of the four-year undergraduate Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) course in teacher preparation.

Also read: Education minister Pralhad Joshi chairs first meeting over NTA-related concerns, aims for stronger exam systems

ITEP to become sole recognised teacher qualification from 2030

ITEP is set to become the only recognised qualification for school teacher recruitment from 2030. NCTE has expanded ITEP from a pilot in 42 institutions with 3,950 seats in 2023-24 to over 409 institutions offering over 38,000 seats this academic year.

On the use of artificial intelligence in teacher education, Joshi said it should be leveraged responsibly to improve teaching while retaining the human element. “AI should enrich pedagogy without replacing essential human values,” he said.

Also read: Course for only teacher degree for post-2030 jobs scaled up without framework

NCTE’s foundation day celebrations at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, were held alongside a national conference on ITEP, themed “Reflection, Reform and Future Readiness”, with more than 400 ITEP institutions participating in hybrid mode.

Delivering the welcome address, Professor Pankaj Arora, Chairperson, NCTE, provided an overview of NCTE’s transformative journey and outlined the Council’s ongoing commitment to building a robust teaching ecosystem aligned with national priorities.

NCTE launches apps for teacher mentoring, professional development

Several new initiatives were launched at the event. NCTE launched the MITRA and PUSHTI mobile applications under the National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) and National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), respectively, to support teacher mentoring and continuous professional development.

NCTE also released implementation handbooks for the two initiatives, publications on ‘AI in Teacher Education’ and ‘Pedagogy in Higher Education,’ and new volumes of its journals ‘Anweshika’ and the ‘Indian Journal of Teacher Education.’ The Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) at NCTE headquarters was also made operational.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanjay Maurya
Sanjay Maurya is a Principal Correspondent with Hindustan Times, where he covers education, with a focus on school and higher education, competitive examinations, education policy and governance. Working as part of the National Bureau, he is based in New Delhi and reports on the Ministry of Education and covers various statutory bodies like UGC, AICTE and NCTE and autonomous bodies like CBSE and NCERT. His reporting also tracks the implementation of key government reforms and policies from school education to higher education including in IITs, NITs, IIMs, central and state universities, and their impact on students and educational institutions. His reporting on the irregularities and rushed implementation of CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluation of Class 12 board exams 2026, triggered administrative action, leading to the transfer of the board's two senior-most officials and the constitution of a committee to probe alleged irregularities in procurement process of the system. He joined Hindustan Times in December 2024. Prior to that, he had a three-year stint at Careers360, where he reported on school and higher education, entrance examinations, admissions, rankings and various education policies involving universities and professional education bodies. Over the years, Maurya has reported extensively on major developments in India's education sector, including the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, changes in school education, higher education regulation, and the evolution of entrance examinations such as NEET, JEE and CUET. He regularly produces data-driven and explanatory stories based on government documents, parliamentary proceedings, court records and official data. His focus remains on helping readers understand how education policies and institutional decisions affect millions of students, teachers and educational institutions across the country.Read More

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