Introduction:

Teachers play a vital role in educating and inspiring the young generation to become the demographic dividend of the future generation. NGO Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report shows that India’s persistently low-learning outcomes gain momentum once again. Quality of education is depends upon the quality of teacher. Teachers’ training in India is unable to cover tough spots and follows a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

Body:

Economist Eric Hanushek finds that a child taught by a good teacher gains 1.5 grade-level equivalents, while a child taught by a bad teacher only gets half an academic year’s worth. Teacher Education is a crucial area which urgently needs focus in order to develop the standards of pedagogy in India. It is suffering from many deficiencies and structural issues

• Majority of aspiring teachers do not have basic concepts of mathematics, leave aside teaching to students.
• Results of TET shows dismal figures of only 3-4 percent of them passing the eligibility test.
• Although NCTE lays down the minimum qualification criterion for appointing teachers at various level, but some states have sought relaxation in minimum qualification in recruitment as teachers. This has created a large pool of ‘untrained teachers’. Around 20 percent of regular teachers and 40 percent of contact teachersdid not have professional qualifications for elementary education.
• Teachers in India, especially those in the government school system, are largely seen as a governance problem, with the focus on getting them into the classroom rather than developing their skills and motivation.
• Those teachers not meeting the qualification were mandated to get it within five years, but this remains unmet.
• Widespread corruptionin appointment of teachers as seen in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and with variation in other states also.
• A National Council of Educational Research and Trainingstudy finds there is no systematic incorporation of teacher feedback into designing trainings, and little variation or consideration of local issues. There is no measure of whether this is translated into classroom practice.
• Nearly half the teachersbelieve that not all children could achieve excellent educational outcomes because of their socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Only 25% incorporate activity-based learningand 33% use storytelling or role-play in their pedagogic approach, either because these weren’t priorities or because they did not have time.

Government Initiative so far:

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) launched the National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancements (NISHTHA) recently, aimed at training over 42 lakh teachers across the country.
• The ministry of human resource development and the National Council for Teacher Education in collaboration with non-government stakeholders launched the National Teacher Platform or Diksha in 2017.
• Diksha is envisioned as a one-stop solution to address teacher competency gaps through courses that address their skill gaps and by empowering them to “learn what they want, where they want”.
• State initiatives like RISE (Rajasthan Interface for School Educators), Rajasthan’s version of Diksha.
• National Council for Teacher Educationplans and co-ordinates the development of teacher education system throughout the country.
• Justice Verma Commission and Poonam Batra Committeewas appointed to look into teacher education. Their recommendations were based on creating new teacher education programmed in multi disciplinary environments.

Way forward:

• The World Development Report On Education (2018)states that “teacher skills and motivation both matter” and that individually-targeted, continued training is crucial to achieving learning improvements through teachers.
• Better incentives for teachers:Post training, there should be no differences in the salary of teachers, public or private. This will attract the best young minds towards this profession and will help it regain lost ground.
• Investments in teacher capacity through stronger training programmes. Teachers need to unlearn and relearn the subjectsand the way it should be taught. There is no point in teaching and employing rote learning, for just passing the examination.
• Teacher training programmes should be complemented by focus-group discussions with local NGOs and community-based organizations.
• The teacher training models should have the ability to provide continuous professional development through a blended model, complementing existing physical trainings.
• A technology-enabled platformwhich allows training to become a continuous activity rather than an annual event is necessary.
• Apart from creating good content, it is also important to consider teachers’ technology consumption patterns, the potential of gamification to drive up engagementand the role of headmasters in promoting teachers’ professional development.

Conclusion:

Teachers are important. This importance doesn’t stem from their exalted mythical status, but from their role as professionals and critical levers in defining the quality of education children receive. Thus, Teacher education program forms the back bone of education system of a nation.