Shillong: The Meghalaya government's plan to launch a BEd programme in West Jaiñtia Hills district of Meghalaya will not materialise soon with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) announcing its decision not to entertain applications for launching of a new programme before 2019.

Earlier, the state government had planned to start a BEd programme in Jowai, the district headquarters of West Jaiñtia Hills, to cater to the needs of those who want to pursue a career in teaching.

When asked about the fate of the programme, education minister Lahkmen Rymbui said on Tuesday that though the government wanted to start the programme, the NCTE, in its notification issued in March this year, had stated that application to start a fresh BEd programme would be entertained after 2019.

The BEd programme in Jowai was to start this year and the infrastructure, especially a building to run the programme, besides recruitment of teachers, were undertaken. The programme will start with 50 seats. "We will wait for the NCTE to take a call on this matter and the programme cannot be started now in view of the notification," Rymbui said.