primary school teachers the twists and turns of everyday practice

Version 20 Oct 08, edited final
Create hubs for a learning community of teachers and educators
Any mass movement—working with teachers is nothing short of a mass
movement—needs anchors, platforms and spaces where the uninitiated can mingle
with those who are part of the process. The great ideas of block and cluster level
resource centres, teacher centres and the like got bureaucratised because the idea
was operationalised in a bureaucratic manner. Can an open and vibrant hub be
created by a large number of active and interested persons and institutions? Can we
create opportunities for teachers to come together, use a library or a laboratory,
access interesting teaching and learning material, meet other teachers and educators
and attend a workshop of their choice?
Bring teacher education into the ambit of higher education
The quality of our teacher educators is a sad commentary on the state of higher
education. Just introducing a few exciting courses like the B.El.Ed (Delhi University)
cannot make up for thousands of poor quality institutions and courses. The lack of
engagement of higher education with schools and schooling is a sad commentary on
the way our educational system has grown.
India needs to create a pool of young people who look at education differently and
who are willing to explore and experiment. A multi-pronged strategy needs to be
developed. As a first step higher ‘education’ universities need to be created in
partnership with those who realise the critical importance of quality education for the
long-term development of the country. These should be people from a wide
spectrum—non-government organisations that are working in education, corporate
philanthropic bodies and private educational establishments. Such institutions
should not be confined to urban areas; there are thousands of rural youth who may
see in this a chance to escape from the downward spiral of poor quality education,
poverty and powerlessness.
Advocate for autonomous academic standard setting
Given the long history of merging of roles of standard setters, regulators and
administrators—NCTE being a classic example—there is a need for an autonomous
academic standard setting regime, one that is outside the direct control of the
educational administration and one that cannot metamorphose itself into a
government department. There is a need to create a body that draws purely on
eminent educationists and academics to lay down standards for teacher education
(especially pre-service), monitor whether these are being adhered to and generate
public pressure for compliance through periodic research-based reports on
standards. Such a body could also develop standard benchmarks which need to be
accessible to all.
Advocate for the professionalisation of elementary education
Some simple administrative changes could blow some fresh air into the system. In
Tamil Nadu and Kerala, teachers who join at the primary level can upgrade their
educational qualifications and move up the education system ladder; there is
nothing that can prevent a teacher from becoming even the Director of SCERT in the
state. At each stage, teachers can avail of leave to study and to take examinations.
Not only are appointments at all levels—middle school, high school, DIET or even
SCERT—open to all to apply, but teachers who have upgraded their educational
qualifications are given encouragement through reservation of a specific percentage
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