Revamping Teacher Education

Author(s): SREENIDHI SRINIVASAN

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 50, No. 35 (AUGUST 29, 2015), pp. 22-24
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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COMMENTARY :

Many international sanitation professionals and

implementation of the programme? The been facing the problem of fund utilisa
experts describe a "sanitation ladder" as ranging
capacities of the panchayats should be tion for a long time. from open defecation to flush toilets with a piped
sewer. Successive rungs on the ladder represent
raised and they should be provided with
more hygienic and more expensive sanitation
additional resources to improve their ad Conclusions options. However, the sanitation ladder in India
appears to be missing its middle rungs, with no
ministrative capacities. Quite a bit of euphoria has been in the air
intermediate steps on which households can
with regard to the sba, thanks to extensive gradually climb up from open defecation.
Increase Allocation for the Rehabilita media coverage. Responses to sba can be Earlier, it was Rs 15,000. But the Cabinet rejected
the proposal and settled for Rs 12,000 per IHHL.
tion of Manual Scavengers: In a caste categorised under two heads. On the one
based society, the sanitation function has hand, the upper classes/castes have appre
been forced upon Dalits. Without disas ciated the effort; they envisage a business REFERENCES

sociating sanitation from Dalits and opportunity and visualise a dirt-free India Anand Teltumbde (2014): "No Swachh Bharat
without Annihilation of Caste," Economic & Po
making cleanliness a common agenda of (in their eyes, dirt is associated with the
litical Weekly, Vol 49, No 45, p 12.
every citizen, sba would not be able to lower castes/classes). The upper classes/ Prabhat Patnaik (2014): "Against Democracy," The
achieve its objective. Due to the caste castes do not have to now feel ashamed in Telegraph, 18 November.
Gol (2014): "Note on Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan,"
system, many Dalits work as manual the company of their foreign partners any Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation,
scavengers without proper safety equip more. On the other hand, a large section of Government of India, New Delhi, 22 August, p 5.
Press Information Bureau (2014): "Restructuring of
ment. sba also envisages the total eradi population (the deprived) has no clue as to the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan into Swachh Bharat
cation of manual scavenging. There are what has been going around in the name of Abhiyaan," 24 September.
D Coffey et al (2014): "Revealed Preference for
approximately 3.42 lakh manual scaven swachhta. But one thing is for sure, without
Open Defecation: Evidence from New Survey
gers yet to be rehabilitated as per a sufficient capital and well-trained labour, Data,"Economic & Political Weekly, 49 (38).
government report. It is a well-known this mission may miss its deadline. Nitin A Khandkar (2014): "Mandatory CSR Spend
ing in India to Impact Corporate Profit," Break
fact that the rehabilitation process is ing Call, 3 March 2014; accessed on 3 December.

patchy and is not being properly imple NOTES Jonnalagadda, Indivar and Sandeep Tanniru (2014):
"Rethinking Governance of Public Toilets: Lessons
mented. For instance, the Self-Employ 1 Times of India, New Delhi, 1 January 2015.
for Swachh Bharat from Hyderabad," Economic &
ment Scheme of Liberation and Rehabili 2 Between the ist Five Year Plan (FYP) and the
Political Weekly, Vol 49, No 48, p 45.
end of 11th FYP, the government has spent ap
proximately 1, 45,000 crore on rural drinking Ministry of Urban Development (2014): "Draft
tation of Scavengers, under the Ministry
water through various programmes despite Guidelines for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan,"
of Social Justice and Empowerment, has water being a state subject. October.

Revamping Teacher Education

Yet, as the decades passed, despite policy
measures, the subject perhaps failed to
garner the attention it deserved.

SREENIDHI SRINIVASAN Teacher Education in India

The Right of Children to Free and Com
The quality of existing teacher pulsory Education (rte) Act, 2009
education institutions in India Ward once wrote, "The medio marked a watershed in the sphere of
American writer
cre teacher William
tells. Arthur
The good teacher education in India. The legislation was
leaves a lot to be desired. An
explains. The superior teacher demon enacted to give effect to Article 21A of the
idea that has been expressed at strates. The great teacher inspires." If Constitution, which places upon the state
various forums over the years figures are to be believed, a vast majority a positive duty to provide free and com

is the desirability of placing of aspiring teachers in India are unable pulsory education to all children of the
to comprehend basic concepts of mathe ages of six to 14 years. The rte Act con
teacher education programmes in
matics, let alone explain or demonstrate tains several crucial provisions governing
multidisciplinary environments. the same to students, a far cry from pro teachers' qualifications and duties. To be
This article explores this idea viding them with any "inspiration." Re eligible for appointment as a teacher, a

and examines the adequacy of sults of teacher eligibility tests (tet) person would be required to possess the
held across states have been painting a minimum qualifications laid down by an
the recently revised norms in
sorry picture of the quality of aspiring academic authority authorised by the
implementing it. teachers, with percentages of qualified central government. The concerned aca
candidates being as low as 3.22% (Srina demic authority is the National Council
gar, September 2014) and 4.43% (Maha for Teacher Education (ncte), an entity
rashtra, March 2014). As far back as constituted in 1993 for coordinated de
1964-66, the Education Commission1 velopment of teacher education in India.
Sreenidhi Srinivasan (nidhi.srinivasan@gmail.
had discussed concerns relating to The ncte, in compliance with the
com) is a lawyer based in New Delhi.
teacher training and education in India. rte Act, had laid down the minimum

22 august 29, 2015 vol L no 35 Q2S9 Economic & Political weekly

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 ; COMMENTARY

qualifications for a person to be eligible be brought about, focus must also be on education, chaired by Justice Verma and
for appointment as a teacher.2 For teach- pre-service teacher education programmes a subsequent "Action Plan"6 for these
ing primary classes (t to 5), a candidate and institutions. recommendations. The Justice Verma
is required to have a two-year Diploma The number of teacher education in- Commission had recommended:
in Elementary Education (delec!) or the stitutions has increased from less than It is desirable that new teacber education
four-year Bachelor of Elementary Educa- 2,000 in 1995 to approximately 16,000.5 institutions are located in multi and inter
tion (BELEd), and for this purpose, only a Yet, despite having the requisite degrees disciplinary environment. This will have
diploma/degree course recognised by from recognised institutes, candidates significant implications for the redesigning

, . ..... , ... education courses specified by the ncte.

the ncte would be considered. Another have been performing poorly in the tet; of norms and standards of various teacher

mandatory requirement for eligibility is an obvious indicator that a majority of This wiU also have implications for employ.
passing the tet conducted in accord- the institutions are lacking in quality. ment and career progression of prospective
ance with ncte guidelines. Over 90% of teacher education institu- teachers. Existing teacher education institu
The rte Act also allows the centre to tions in India are in the private sector, bons may be encouraged to take necessary

. , ... . , ... . with the new institutions.7

relax the minimum qualifications if a and need to be closely regulated along steps towards attaining academic parity
state does not have enough institutes with government-run institutions, such
offering training in teacher education, as District Institutes of Education and This was closely linked with the com
or where teachers with the required Training (diet) and Colleges of Teacher mittee's recommendation that teacher ed
minimum qualifications are not availa- Education (cte). ucation should be part of the higher edu
ble in sufficient numbers. Several states, cation system. While discussing the mo
including Bihar, Odisha and West Ben- The New Norms dalities of implementation of this recom
gal, have sought and obtained relaxa- A suggestion that has been doing the mendation, it was observed that the most
tions under this provision, enabling rounds over the past few decades is the tangible means of achieving this would be
them to employ teachers without the desirability of placing teacher education through location of pre-service teacher
requisite professional qualifications. The programmes within multidisciplinary en- education programmes in institutions of
relaxation, although necessary in the vironments. In November 2014, the ncte liberal arts and sciences. It was expected
short term, has added to the pool of had notified the ncte (Recognition Norms that integrated inter-disciplinary pro
existing "untrained" teachers. Existing and Procedure) Regulations, 2014, sup- grammes would lead to dialogue across
teachers without the minimum qualifi- erseding the earlier 2009 regulations, departments, recruitment of faculty from
cations had been allowed a period of five The new norms provide for a gradual diverse qualifications, and "theoretical
years under the rte Act to acquire such transition towards composite institutions. grounding in educational thought, curric

qualifications. The ncte notification has New Teacher Educatjon Institutions shall be ulum and pedagogy."«
prescribed special training to be under- located in composite institutions and the There is undoubtedly merit in the argu
gone by certain categories of existing existing teacher education institutions shall ment that teacher training institutions be
teachers. For instance, a teacher of continue to function as stand-alone institu- brought within the mainstream multidisci

, , . , . . , . ing composite institutions.4 , _

Classes 1-5 with a BEd qualification tlons; and gradually move towards becom- p[jnary environment. As rightly pointed
(which is a course preparing teachers for out m the Poonam Batra Committee re
Classes 6-12, and is now a two-year pro- The new norms define "composite ins- port, this would enable access to infra
gramme) is required to undergo a ncte titutions" as those "offering undergradu- structure and resources of other disci
recognised six-month special pro- ate programmes in the sciences/social plines and allow student teachers the op
gramme on elementary education. sciences/humanities and institutions of- portunity of undertaking research across
According to data released by the Dis- fering more than one teacher education disciplines, and in collaboration with stu
trict Information System for Education programme." The guidelines for existing dents from other fields. Admittedly, it is
(dise) for 2013-14, out of the total number institutions5 (issued on 24 December difficult to make an unequivocal state
of elementary schoolteachers, 19.9% of 2014) clarify that an existing institute ment as to programmes within multidisci
regular teachers and 44.4% of contract offering only one programme will have plinary universities faring better than
teachers do not possess professional qual- to seek recognition for one more those offered at stand-alone institutions in
ifications. The initial five-year window programme, and the time limit for addi- all cases. To illustrate, tet results of candi
granted for teachers to acquire qualifica- tion of more programmes would be inti- dates from the University of Delhi, Miran
tions in accordance with the rte Act mated in due course. da House show a pass percentage of only
came to an end on 31 March 2015. Need- It is pertinent to note that the revised 20.26%, with 78 out of 385 candidates
less to say, the goal of training teachers norms had been framed after considerable having passed. The Department of Educa
within five years remains unfulfilled. Giv- discussion through a committee constitut- tion, University of Delhi though recorded a
en these figures, strengthening in-service ed by the government—the Poonam Batra pass percentage of 42.68%, with 67 out of
training programmes is crucial for raising Committee (2013)—for discussing the 157 candidates passing.9
standards of existing teachers. At the modalities of implementation of a Supreme It is pertinent to note that the results of
same time, if any long-term change is to Court-appointed commission on teacher different institutions may depend on a

Economic & Political weekly Q3Q august 29, 2015 vol l no 35 23

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COMMENTARY :
NOTES
number of factors, including the regions deliberated upon by the Poonam Batra NOTES
A 17-member commission chaired by D S Koth
where they operate, the quality of the pro- Committee. Stakeholders had presented 1 A 17-raember commission chaired by D s Koth
an (Chairman,
ari (Chairman, University
University Grants
Grants Commission)
Commission)
grammes themselves, the infrastructure illustrative estimates from states like to undertake a comprehensive
to undertakereview of the review of the
a comprehensive
of the university as a whole, and opportu- Karnataka and Odisha, which suggested Indian educationalIndian educational system.
system.
■ i ,1 • r i j 2 Vide Notification No 61-3/2010/NCTE/N&S dat
Vide Notification No 61-3/2010/NCTE/N&S dat
mties for interaction with other disci- that gradual opening of teacher educa- ed 23 August 2010, published
ed 23 Augustin thepublished
2010, Gazette of Gazette
in the in of In
plines. And, while teacher education pro- tion programmes in the several existing dia on 25 August dia
2010,
on 25amended by
August 2010, Notification
amended by Notification
. . . . ,universities
. 1. . ,. . .may
. ,, muludisciphnary
, No 6i-i/2oii/NCTE/N&S, dated 29. :July
, , , . 2011.
0 r j r j 3 As per information available on the website of
grammes in composite umversiUes would ade- ,2011.
No 61-1/2011/NCTE/N&S, dated 29 July
As per information available on the website of
not immediately generate the desired re- quately handle the additional intake the Department of School Education and Liter
the Department of School Education and Liter
acy, Ministry of Human Resource Development
suits, a steady increase in interdiscipli- generated from closing stand-alone insti- acy, Ministry of Human Resource Development
0 http://www.teindia.nic.in/Files/Inst_Regcog
http://www.teindia.nic.in/Files/Inst_Regcog
nary interaction and access to greater re- tutions. The guidelines could also allow nised_by_NCTE_ason15jun2013.pdf
nised_by_NCTE_ason15jun2013.pdf

, . . , r . , 1 . r . , Norms and Procedures) Regulations, 2014.

sources is certainly expected to benefit states the room to seek relaxations 4 RegulationRegulation 8(1) of
8(1) of the the NCTE
ncte (Recognition
(Recognition
Norms and Procedures) Regulations, 2014.
student teachers over a period of time. where resources and infrastructure simply 5 Letter issued by the issued
Letter NCTEby t0the
Regional
NCTE toCommit.
Regional Commit
tees, dated2011
Efficacy of composite institutions aside, do not permit closing such institutions. tees, dated 24 December 24 December 2011 (No F 51-4/2014/
(No F 51-4/2014/
NCTE/N&S), "Guidelines for processing of
the inclusion of "institutions offering more Alternatively, leaving aside existing in pending applications and for existing institu
than one teacher education programme" stitutions, the norms could at least stipu- tion," Explanatory Note,
tion," paragraphs.
Explanatory Note, paragraph 5.
The Action Plan outlines the processes and
as composite institutions would not serve late that new teacher education pro- 6 The Actlon plan outlines the processes and
timelines required for implementation of the
the intended purpose, which was to mte- grammes be opened only m multidiscipli- justice verma Committee recommendations,
Justice Verma Committee recommendations,
and by
wasan
prepared by an Implementation Com
.. 11.. . 1 11 1 ... , rr , , , mittee constituted by the Supreme Court,
grate such programmes with other disci- nary settings. By allowing opening of new and was prepared implementation Com
mittee constituted by the Supreme Court.
plmes enabling interaction and collabora- institutions that offer only teacher educa- y Rcpott of the High-powered
Report Commission
of the High-Powered on
Commission on
tions between student teachers and acad- tion programmes, the recognition norms Teacher Education constituted
Teacher by the Horïble
Education constituted Su Su
by the Hon'ble
preme Court of India (chaired by Justice J S Ver
emicians from other disciplines, raising make the task of a gradual shift towards ma), August 2012, Volume 1, paragraph 2.10.2.
the quality of research across disciplines. If composite institutions all the more dififi- 8 Report on implementation of Justice
Report on Implementation vermaVerma
of Justice
Commission Recommendations prepared by
the concern was that the supply pool of cult in the long run. Bearing in mind the Commission Recommendations prepared by
the Poonam Batra Committee, July 2014, para
available teachers would be further long-term aim of raising standards of stu- graph 3.2.
graph 3.2.

rc . , , j n t • 1 r 1 î September 2014 available on the website for the

Resultsi of
strained if stand-alone institutions (those dent teachers and enabling an environ- 9 Results of tet Paper TET classes
(For Paper I (For Classes
i to 1 to 5) from
5) from
September 2014 available on the website for the
offering only teacher education pro- ment of holistic growth for them, it may be central Teacher Eligibility TestEligibility
Central Teacher (ctet) main
Test (CTET) main
grammes) were to be closed, it could have prudent at this point to reconsider certain tained by the tained
Centralby Board
the Central Board of Secondary
of Secondary Edu Edu
cation, http://59 • 179 • 16.89/ctetomr/stats. aspx.
been addressed with state-specific time- aspects of the 2014 norms. Such an objec- Eed™
(It may be noted that clicking on the URL does
not
lines for closure of such institutions. tive would perhaps be best served by al- not automatically lead toautomatically
the results lead
pagetoand
the results page and
only leads to a page where one has to select the
Concerns regarding the supply pool lowing new programmes to be taken up course, qualification and State. My selections
becoming further constrained had been only in multidisciplinary settings. were Paper 1, Degree
were Paper I,and Delhi—All
Degree districts.)
and Delhi—All districts.)

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