Concerned over the poor quality of teaching institutes and B.Ed colleges that are producing “substandard” teachers, the Centre is planning to put in place a mandatory accreditation and certification process for such educational institutions.
To ensure compliance, the centre is likely to make certification mandatory for graduates applying to government teaching jobs, sources said.
Last year, while reviewing the education sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry should issue a mandate to states to recruit teachers every year from accredited and certified teacher training institutes only.
Sources said the ministry, in consultation with states, is working out the parameters and standards that will be used for certifying these colleges.
“Teachers are the key to delivery of good quality. But nowadays so many institutes have come up in every nook and corner of the country and they don’t have the expertise, quality teachers and infrastructure to run such courses for aspiring teachers. Many Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) colleges have started operating which are not even maintaining basic standard. A number of these private institutions are mere commercial establishments just selling B. Ed degrees at a price. We want to keep a check on that,” said a senior official.
A degree in Bachelor of Education qualifies the graduate to teach students of higher primary schools and high schools.
The National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) is a regulatory body for school-level teachers’ training and according to it there are over 24,000 teacher training institutions across the country. The NCTE also oversees procedures and standards for the Indian education system. It also gives approvals to teaching institutes to operate. However, sources say that most don’t follow the norms laid down by NCTE.
“The issue of concern rests largely with private teaching institutions as they are producing a pool of substandard teachers. They don’t hire good faculty and lack basic infrastructure too,” said a source.
The impact of substandard teaching by teachers can be seen in schools as surveys in Delhi found half of sixth graders in government-run schools are unable to read at all. The Supreme Court in March had also taken seriously the mushrooming of private B. Ed colleges in the country stating that the quality of education must be a concern for all.
Source: HindustanTimes