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Teachers need adequate training and support, too
Quality education an emerging concern
Campus Notes
Keys of 3 offices go
missing, probe on
Studyscape
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Teachers need adequate training and support, too
TEACHERS are the backbone of the education system that creates the most important knowledge resource in society. Therefore, our schools must have high quality teachers because only enlightened, emancipated and empowered teachers can lead our society and the nation towards progress. The National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) has done exhaustive study on the condition of primary education in our country based on the data received from as many as 1.36 million schools spread over 637 districts across 35 states. The recent estimates prepared by the NUEPA and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) indicate that the implementation of RTE would require the appointment of 0.5 million additional teachers over and above the existing vacancies. Out of about 4.52 million teachers in the country, nearly 3 million are teaching at the primary/elementary level. According to RTE rules, children have the right to at least one qualified and trained teacher for every 30 pupils. Currently, there is about one teacher for every 34 students. In our school education, the most critical component is the availability of sufficient number of qualified teachers. Shockingly, 36 per cent of all sanctioned teaching posts are vacant and among the recruited ones, 6.7 lakh teachers are professionally unqualified and untrained. Among this vast pool of the teachers, 45 per cent have not studied beyond the 12th grade. The professional competence can be gauzed from the fact that high percentage of 91 and 93 per cent of the teacher candidates could not qualify the National Teacher Eligibility Test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education in 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively. This problem has reached to such a situation because teacher recruitment in most states remained frozen for many years, leading to sub-optimal solutions such as hiring para teachers with different nomenclature and lower salary to override fiscal constraints. Demand for greater numbers of teachers has led to massive quantitative expansion of the number of institutions and courses at various levels in recent years, but without the necessary emphasis on infrastructure, faculty qualification and learning resources. During the 1990s, the government chose to restructure the education system by allowing local groups to start primary schools and by delegating the task of recruiting teachers to village panchayats. Appointments of ‘para’ teachers resulted in plethora of problems, which further crumbled the delicate pool of teachers in states. The MHRD report on RTE estimates points out that as high as 75 per cent teachers are without professional qualification in the north-eastern states and 51 to 30 per cent in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha. These are identified as states with grossly inadequate teacher education capacity. Many of these have sought exemption from fulfilling their legally binding teacher qualification norms while recruiting the required number of teachers. This dilution will have serious long-term consequences, as it will weaken the teacher cadre, further ensuring poor learning outcomes. The report further indicates that 40 per cent of primary schools have a classroom-student ratio of higher than 1:30 and approximately, 10.5 per cent of our schools are manned by a single teacher. A Supreme Court-appointed commission led by former Chief Justice of India JS Verma has come down hard on the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) for its failure to rein in “substandard” teacher education institutes (TEI) in the country. Currently, more than 85 per cent TEI are in the private sector and this necessitates the need for an appropriate regulatory framework to ensure quality standards in teacher education. Teachers need adequate training and support, too. Therefore, the Human Resource Development Ministry has mooted a proposal to set up 40 schools of education to meet the crunch of quality teachers. These schools will be set up in select universities and institutions to produce “teacher educators”. The quality of untrained in-service teachers can be addressed by restructuring training modules in government-run teacher training institutes such as the State Council of Educational Research & Training and District Institution of Education and Training (DIET). This huge task of training can only be accomplished if these institutions are fully functional. These academic institutions often function as ‘transit lounge’ for functionaries and devalue any effort to build institutional capabilities. This often implies a shortage of staff in these institutions. It has been reported that in several states there is a shortage of faculty in DIETs which directly impacts the quality of pre-service programmes. A National Council of Educational Research and Training report indicates that about 44 per cent DIETs in the northern region, 58 per cent in north-eastern region, 33 per cent in the eastern region, 44 per cent in the western region, and 67 per cent in the southern region have about 50 per cent academic posts vacant. As education is a concurrent subject, Central and state governments have to work in unison to deal with this problem with compassion and dedication. Above all, teachers have also a great responsibility to upgrade their skills to match the aspirations of their students. Teaching is not a mere job but a mission and requires a missionary approach. Therefore, teachers must follow great ideals in life to become role models in society. Their role becomes more important in the present context as the knowledge society of the 21st century will decide the future development perspective of the country on the world horizon. The writer is Senior Scientist at Dr Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan
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Quality education an emerging concern A variety of professional institutions in the northern region, especially in the vicinity of Chandigarh, have come up in the last two decades. Though majority of them are privately owned and profit-centric institutions, these have helped in meeting the demand of the region by filling the gap in demand and supply. These institutions while providing a variety of courses with a host of facilities like transportation, hostel, cafeteria, WiFi campus, etc., also provide opportunity to even an average student who can get admission to professional courses of his choice. This change has ushered in reforms in the field of education. However, quality education is an emerging concern for these institutions. Though creating an institution is a matter of investment driven by one’s vision, what puts a quality tag on it is disciplined culture, adequate infrastructure and ability of the faculty to develop deliverable skills among students. These elements work in tandem to infuse quality into the education system. But quality comes through well thought-out design inputs or by way of proper planning. Therefore, the institutions that are striving for quality education must plan accordingly and use their resources on skill development. Equally important for students is to choose a course suiting the most to their inherent talent, so that they have better chances of grasping skills in a more deliverable manner. There are experts available who advise students to choose the profession which suits them the best. The ideal time to go for this evaluation is after Class X. It, however, remains to be seen whether these institutions will be able to fill the gap between what is desired and what actually is being delivered.
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Campus Notes Keys of 3 offices go
missing, probe on CLOSE on the heels of an inquiry being conducted by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau into various irregularities pertaining to recruitments and financial matters in Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, the keys of three key offices of the administrative block had mysteriously disappeared on March 8. The chowkidar who had gone on the top floor to lock the remaining offices found the keys of three offices, including the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and Estate Officer, missing when he came down. He reported the matter to the senior officials who swung into action and got the offices double locked. With Saturday and Sunday being closed days, it appears to have been a deliberate mischief to remove some sensitive records as the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau was likely to visit the university anytime to scrutinise vital records. Interestingly, there were six offices whose keys were lying on the ground floor but only keys of three offices were stolen. Since the keys of the comptroller office, where cash is stacked, were also lying there, it appears to be a deliberate mischief to remove some sensitive files. Dr KR Dhiman, Vice-Chancellor, has directed Deputy Controller SC Vaish to inquire into the incident within seven days and submit a report. The chowkidar too has been asked to submit his explanation within three days. Transfer issue The change in government has brought alive the issue of transfers in the university where despite receiving a list 19 employees from the state government, only a few transfers have been effected by the university administration. While employees whose names figure on the list are having anxious moments about their future posting, efforts to get the orders modified are also being made by them. This has adversely affected the normal working of the university, where uncertainty appears to be prevailing. Awareness camp An awareness camp under the Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Yojna on “Integrated Pest Disease and Nutrient Management in Vegetable and Fruits” was organised at Noradhar in Sirmaur district, where 148 farmers from eight panchayats were present. Project’s principal investigator and Professor, Department of Entomology, Dr Anil Sood, disseminated information on how to minimise the use of pesticides and adopt biological methods of controlling pest disease. Dr NB Singh, Director, Extension, was the chief guest on the occasion. Bhav Singh Thakur, Professor, Fruit Science, informed the farmers about the various fruit trees like apple and peach, which can be grown in the area. Meanwhile, a declamation contest on nuclear safety was conducted by the university on the National Science Day recently. As many as 48 students participated in the contest and aired their views on various aspects of nuclear safety. — Contributed by Ambika Sharma
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Studyscape DUBAI: Betting big on the private education market in India, city-based Gems Education plans to start 50 schools over the next five years, and is setting up an exclusive education fund for the country. “India is a very important market for us. We have plans to launch about 50 schools over the next five years,” Gems Education Group Chief Operating Officer and board member Dino Varkey, who hails from Kerala, said at the recently concluded Global Education and Skills Forum. Most of the planned schools are expected to come up in small cities and towns and will be managed and operated by Gems Education, Varkey said. The global school chain at present has 1.3 lakh students enrolled in its schools, spanning 11 geographies, including India. It also claims to have been providing the largest number of Indian-origin English teachers away from home.
— PTI
English dropped from top
Chinese varsity exams
BEIJING: China's top universities have begun their annual independent recruitment exams, with English no longer included among the compulsory subjects. In most of these universities, those who have applied for science and engineering majors will only be required to take maths and physics exams, while art students will be required to take Chinese and maths exams, reported Xinhua. Yu Han, an enrolment officer at Tsinghua University, said the subject was eliminated in order to reduce students’ workload and attract talented students who excel in the subjects. Independent college entrance exams are held three months before the national exams, a process that allows universities to recruit more talented students.
— IANS
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