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Version 20 Oct 08, edited finalPre-service teacher-trainingAt the pre-service stage, teacher-training programmes aim to ensure that futureteachers have the knowledge and pedagogical skills that would enable them to teachin elementary schools. Such training is required for appointment as an elementaryteacher in four of the five states included in this study: Kerala, Maharashtra,Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The duration of this training is typically two years,although in Maharashtra it has recently been extended to include a six-monthinternship above and beyond the two years of training.West Bengal, once again, has followed a different trajectory; only in 2002, underpressure from GoI/SSA/NCTE, did the state government agree to make diploma ineducation a desirable—though still not required—qualification. Given the overallemployment situation in the state, teacher posts are in great demand and there is agreat deal of resistance to making a certificate course mandatory.In every state, diploma or certificate courses in primary teacher-training areconducted by government, government-aided as well as private (self-financing)institutions. While the duration of the courses and the actual certification they givediffer across states, the important issue that frames the teacher development debatehas to do with the content and process of pre-service teacher education. Almost allimportant review committee and commission reports as well as independentanalyses have highlighted the poor quality of teacher preparation in India (seeReference Annexure for a list of committees and commissions from 1986 to thepresent). It is not necessary to labour this point further—the question is why havethe states not been able to do anything about it? We look below at three interrelatedaspects of this issue: teacher-training institutions, process (training content andmethodology), and faculty.Teacher-training institutionsCountry-wide, teacher-training programmes are offered increasingly by private (selffinanced)rather than by government institutions. There are two related problemswith this trend. The first relates to state governments’ ability to regulate what theseinstitutions do; the second to the complete mismatch between the numbers ofstudents completing this training and the numbers actually required to fill availablevacancies.Central to this situation is the role of the revamped NCTE, which became a statutorybody in 1993 to promote ‘planned and coordinated development, regulation andproper maintenance of norms and standards in the teacher education systemthroughout the country’ (NCTE Act 1993). It has both academic and regulatoryfunctions. Its academic functions include conducting studies on teacher education,recommending strategies for teacher education, promoting innovations and researchin teacher education and formulating schemes and identifying recognisedinstitutions for teacher development programmes. The regulatory functions includeaccording recognition for teacher education institutions and courses, laying downguidelines for compliance, laying down norms for courses and minimum eligibilitycriteria, evolving an appraisal system and ‘taking all necessary steps to preventcommercialisation of teacher education’ (GOI and NCERT: Draft NCTE ReviewCommittee Report 2008).42
Version 20 Oct 08, edited finalNotwithstanding the laudable objective behind creating NCTE, the last 15 years havewitnessed a haphazard growth of teacher education institutions across the country—often against the judgement of state level bodies and state governments. In the statesincluded in this study, the effects of these developments have been resoundinglynegative. In Maharashtra, for example, the D.Ed programme is offered by primaryteacher-training institutions which, towards the mid-1970s, were fewer than 100. ByFebruary 2008, there were 787 such institutions, of which 130 were government orgovernment-aided institutions (33 DIETs and 97 aided D.Ed colleges), whereas therest—over 85 per cent of the total—were self-financed or unaided colleges. 5 The statecurrently generates between 60,000 and 70,000 trained D.Ed teachers every year,about five times the annual demand (Table 4.2). 6Table 4.2: Expansion in D. Ed institutions, MaharashtraYearTotal number of % increaseD.Ed institutions in the state1965 791975 94 191985 126 341995 210 67Feb 2008 787 275(Source: 1965 to 1995: Adapted from MSCERT, Teacher Education in Maharashtra. CurrentStatus, Issues, and Future Projections. New Delhi, NCTE (2001) (excludes 31 institutionswhose year of establishment was not specified). 2008: Data provided by MSCERT).Table 4.3 Expansion of private teacher-training institutions in TNType of InstitutionYearGovernment Govt. UnaidedDIETTTI Aided TTI TTITotal2003/04 29 9 43 2 832004/05 30 9 43 1262005/06 30 9 43 4152006/07 30 9 43 4772007/08 30 9 43 583 665(Source: DTERT, Chennai 2008).The situation in Tamil Nadu is not very different. In 2003–04, there were only 83TTIs (including 29 DIETs) with a maximum intake of 8,300 teacher trainees. Sincethen only one new DIET has been added, which means that the increase in thenumbers of TTIs has been entirely in the unaided sector (Table 4.3). A similarscenario can be traced with respect to B.Ed colleges, whose number is nearly 300 inthe current year.YearTable 4.4: Kerala teacher-training institutionsType of Institution/courseTTC Course B. Ed Course(DIET + TTI)5 At the time of fieldwork in February 2008, close to 100 additional private institutions had beensanctioned by the National Council for Teacher Education, but had yet to begin functioning.6 Estimates provided by functionaries at the Maharashtra Council for Educational Research andTraining (MSCERT).43
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