When the Covid  pandemic struck,  educational institutions  were  shut down,   and there was an abrupt  shift to  online education. The data collected from  teacher educators  and student  teachers  regarding problems faced owing to the shift to  distant online  training, revealed  that teaching  effectively  online  requires  certain  skill  sets. Carrilo and Flores (2020) in the literature review of Online teaching and learning affirmed that addressing the exceptional changes teachers and students are experiencing in these unprecedented times are necessary. So  it becomes  imperative to  identify missing skill sets  and integrate it into the teacher training programme to enable prospective  teachers  to  function  effectively when they  take up the teaching profession which is likely to  follow the hybrid mode of instruction in the coming  years. The study aims to identify missing  skill sets in teacher educators  which affected effective transaction of the syllabus of the Bachelor of Education course during  the Covid  pandemic compelled  distance online pedagogy in Kerala. It  also  reviews  the skills required  for virtual  training and  suggests ways of  integrating new  skills  required  for  effecting  online  instruction and training into the traditional  teacher education programme. The data for the study was collected through surveys and informal interviews with teacher educators and student teachers. The problems experienced by student  teachers compelled to study  online  were  found out through a participant observer  study  mode where the investigator-cum-teacher educator attempted online teaching of BEd  trainees. The survey and  informal  interviews  found that  teacher educators  require  new  skill sets which includes online resource hunting and adaptation skills, Grounding skills which help stop the cycle of worry and anxiety and  student mental health advising skills. The author hopes that the skills found to be absent and identified  in the study will help those at the helm of affairs to provide necessary In-service training to enable  teacher educators to acquire the skills. It will also help curriculum developers to identify ways of integrating the new skill sets to the traditional teacher education programme.

Keywords: BEd  Course, Covid  Pandemic, Curriculum, Grounding skills, Skill set, Teacher Education.