M.Ed is the short form for Master of Education, which is typically a two-year or four-semester course dealing with the pedagogical aspects of teaching. In a few cases, One year M.Ed courses are also available. The M.Ed course covers areas like curriculum and instruction, counseling, school psychology, and administration. A two year course has to be completed in maximum four years. M.Ed course can be pursued in both regular and distance mode.

Admission to regular programs can be through popular entrance exams, like DUET, JUET and AMU entrance test, or based on marks of qualifying exams. Meanwhile, admission to distance education is normally based on marks of qualifying marks and there is no entrance exam involved. Aspirants who complete the M.Ed program today don’t just work in the familiar profiles like a teacher, maths teacher, or researcher, but have moved on to more challenging and emerging roles like that of a business analyst, educational media and technology specialist, and instructional designer.

What is the Full Form of M.Ed?

The M.Ed full form is Masters in Education. M.Ed is masters degree of B.Ed. It is a two year course, which candidates can peruse either full time or part time. M.Ed. increases the careers prospects of the applicants perusing this course.

Advantages of M.Ed Course

Improvement of teaching skills- Doing a masters of education helps in enhancing a candidate’s teaching skills. An individual can learn and be better at teaching by pursuing an M.Ed.

Better opportunities- After pursuing an M.Ed a candidate gets exposed to better career opportunities. Depending on the candidate’s area of specialisation he or she can get a better paying job as well.

Wider scope- After pursuing an M.Ed an individual gets the opportunity to be a part of administrative jobs as well. A candidate who completes his or her M.Ed is not just restricted to teaching career, if he or she wants then one can also be a part of administrative jobs.

Types of M.Ed

The M.Ed degree can be done in regular or distance mode. Distance mode is available through IGNOU and KSOU. Regular M.Ed courses can be pursued at participating colleges of exams like DUET, BHU PET and JUET.

The course is usually of two-year duration, but one-year M.Ed courses also exist.

For example, the M.Ed. & M.Ed. (Special Education) offered by Banaras Hindu University is of one year (Two semesters) duration, while Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Annamalai University offer the traditional two-year (Four Semester) M.Ed course.

M.Ed Eligibility

To study M.Ed, the applicant has to meet the prescribed M.Ed eligibility criteria as elucidated below:

Qualifying exam: The candidate needs to have passed the B.Ed exam from a recognised institute. But note that some institutes also accept BElEd, BAEd, BScEd, or MScEd degrees.

Minimum marks: The minimum marks in the qualifying exam can vary. Like some institutes may prescribe 50% marks in aggregate, while in some cases it may even go up to 60%.

Since the M.Ed eligibility criteria, especially those related to minimum marks, is not uniform, it is recommended that the candidates refer to the exam they are appearing in or the college they are seeking admission to.

M.Ed Admissions

Admission to M.Ed courses can follow any of the following two routes:

Entrance exam route: Many institutes offering M.Ed courses use scores of entrance exams like DUET in case of Delhi University and BHU PET, in case of Banaras Hindu University, for admission purposes. Merit list for admission will be prepared based on scores of the entrance exam, and subsequently shortlisted for counselling and seat allotment.

Direct admission route: Then there are also many colleges that may simply use marks of qualifying exams for admission; in this case there is no entrance exam. Anna University and Lovely Professional University(LPU) offer admission based on marks of qualifying exam.

The unique case of Amity Institute of Education, Noida

While the above two are the tried and tested methods for admission to an M.Ed program, some institutes are coming up with innovative ways to bypass these routes. Take for example the unique case of Amity Institute of Education, Noida, that doesn’t conduct any regular entrance exam for admission, but nor does it admit aspirants merely on qualifying exam marks. Instead it has hosted a VIDEO LINK on its Admission Microsite, where interested candidates are required to give video responses to queries. Selection of candidates is done based on such responses.

M.Ed Specializations

A specialisation course in M.Ed is advanced study in a particular discipline in that field. For exam, if a candidate does an MEd in Educational Technology course, the candidate will not only cover the basics of the M.Ed program, but go a step ahead and learn about skills and tools required to perform online and digital learning classes for classrooms and business entities. This specialised program also teaches how to create collaborative learning and communicating environments.

Some of the popular specialisations in M.Ed have been listed below:

• MEd in Educational Technology
• MEd in Guidance and counseling
• MEd in Special Education
• MEd in Women Studies
• MEd in Rural Education
• MEd in Yoga Education
• MEd in Environment Education
• MEd in Language Education

M.Ed Courses

Candidates who plan to pursue a career in education or teaching may study the M. Ed course. During the course of the study, the program will cover areas like curriculum and instruction, counseling, school psychology, and administration.

M.Ed courses are offered by institutes recognised by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), New Delhi. Any college that is not recognised by the NCTE is not authorised to offer the course and consequently certificates issued by them will stand invalid.

M.Ed Syllabus

While the core elements remain the same, there may be subtle differences in the M.Ed syllabus from one institute to another. Also, the M.Ed syllabus is semester-specific as shown in the table below.

Source: Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University

M.Ed Salary

There are a vast number of job roles one may take up after completion of the M.Ed program. And depending on these roles, the salary package will vary. Then there is also the question of whether a person is working at entry level, mid- level or senior level. It is because at the start of a profession, salary can be low but can grow substantially over time, if promotions are accounted for.

Take for example, a high school teacher with an M.Ed degree could earn around Rs. 362 k, but as he or she rises in her role and reaches the position of a high school principal, salary can go up to as much as Rs. 793 k or even more. Source: Pay Scale.

M.Ed salary for popular jobs

Source: Pay Scale

Scope of M.Ed

After completion of the M.Ed degree, one can go on and pursue higher studies like PhD and do research or become an educationist. As the M.Ed course emphasises on the communication skills, by the time the course is completed, one tends to become quite adept at articulating one’s thoughts and ideas cogently and forcefully. This can help candidates if they want to take up speaking roles.

Careers Opportunities after M.Ed

The immediate job role that comes to our minds when we hear M.Ed is that of an educator or researcher. But take a closer look and you will find an M.Ed degree holder today also works as an Instructional Designer or a Senior Business Analyst. This shows that the course and the curriculum has evolved to become truly contemporary.

Career roles:

School Teacher

Researcher

Private Tutor

Home Tutor

Education Consultant

Education Counsellor

Physical Education Teacher

Online Tutor

Vice Principal

Maths Teacher

Principal

Administrative Assistant

Educational Media and Technology Specialist

Child Care Director

Educational Policy Developer

Instructional Designer

Senior Business Analysts

Who recruits M.Ed students?

Until recently, government as well as private schools were the primary employers of M.Ed graduates. But as job roles have diversified in recent years, the type of recruiters have also changed. For example, today education, coaching and counselling institutes like TIME, FIITJEE, Educomp also hire M.Ed graduates. But all that pales when you find that M.Ed is now in demand at technology companies like NIIT.