Historical development of teacher education in India

1)Teacher education in India has a strong historical perspective and is a result of different outside invaders, social reformers and dominant educationists.

2) It starts working from the ancient education system and till the present system of education taking shape according to the global and local needs of Indian society.

3)The origin of teacher education can be traced back to the early 19th century. State initiatives for teacher training were ensured in 1815 which is one of the earliest recorded views in support of the training need of school teachers.

4) In 1947, at the eve of independence, there were 650 training schools with enrollment of 38,770 students. The number of secondary training colleges all over the country was only 42 with an enrollment of 3100 teacher trainees.

5) In the field of teacher education, many new trends and innovations have emerged in our country and abroad. After independence, the government of India took the task of reconstruction of Indian education on a priority basis. 

6)Many committees and commissions were set up by the government of India for strengthening the system of teacher education in India. There are mainly three types of teacher training institutions for imparting training to teachers of elementary, secondary and tertiary levels of education respectively. 

7) In The National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986, the government of India has established 48 Academic Staff Colleges (ASCs), which impart in-service training to teachers in higher education.

8)The percentage of trained teachers has progressively increased at every level of education. Every year, a large number of teachers are trained and added to the existing pool of trained teachers.

 9) Teacher education is undergoing rapid changes in keeping pace with the demands of learning and expectation of learners, the community and society as a whole.

Kothari Commission (1964-66) 

1)National Education Commission (1964-1966), popularly known as Kothari Commission, was a  commission set up by the Government of India to examine all aspects of the educational sector in India and to evolve a general pattern of education 

2) It aimed to advise guidelines and policies for the development of education in India.

3)The Kothari Commission was appointed to assess the educational system which was then followed in India and to recommend a national pattern of education and the policies and principles that would develop education at all levels.

4)This was the Hindi version of the National Education Commission (Kothari Commission) Report entitled ‘Siksha or Rastrya Vikas (Education and National Development)’ under the chairmanship of Prof D. S. Kothari.

5)Kothari Commission is also known as National Education Commission, 1964. Since independence, various commissions were formed to improve the Indian education system.

6)The National Education Commission (1964-66) also called as Kothari Commission, the chairperson of this commission was Dr. Daulat Singh Kothari (6 July 1906 to 4 Feb 1993) was an educationist and had a doctorate degree in physics and worked under Ernest Rutherford.

7)He was the chairmen of UGC from 1969 to 1973.

8)Kothari commission was set up on 14 July 1964 and it’s work got began  on 2nd October 1964 and the final report was submitted on 29 June 1966.

9)The countries like UK, USA, USSR, UNESCO also assisted in the commission.

Aims and Objectives of Kothari Commission

1)Do research to improve the quality of the Indian education system and to provide appropriate suggestions to the Government of India for its improvement.

2)Present appropriate suggestions to the government in the formulation of education policy in India, so that the level of Indian education can be increased.

3)Highlight the shortcomings of Indian education, and find out the reasons for those shortcomings and present constructive information to the Government of India.

4. Implement Indian education equally in every province and present suggestions to make education levels equal, bringing uniformity to the Indian education system.

5)The Kothari Commission recommended promoting regional languages, Sanskrit as well as international languages, preferably English. The Kothari Commission recommended providing favourable and adequate service conditions for teachers and providing them with the necessary freedom to conduct and publish those findings.

Kothari Commission on teacher’s education 

1)They recommended proper education programmes of teacher’s education so they can develop into efficient professionals teachers.

2)They recommended a two years programme for the primary teachers and one year programme for the secondary teachers.

3)The teacher should be taught in practical skills and training institute should include case studies, project work, seminars and discussions in the teachers programmes. There should be internship or practical teaching for pupils teachers.

4)Special courses should be there for in-service teachers so that they can also enhance their skills.

5)Teacher’s programmes should be updated as per the need of time and conditions.

Secure job for the teachers 

1)They recommended raising the bar for the profession of teaching by providing them sufficient salary.

2)They emphasise a basic pay band for teachers as per their teaching post, area of posting, their qualifications, etc.

3)They also recommended a grant for the research by the UGC.

4)There should be retirement benefits for the teachers under state government.

5)They also emphasise motivation for the female teachers.

6)They emphasise proper training and accommodation for the teachers who are working in tribal area.

Chattopadhayay  Commission (1983-85).

1) It is indeed a matter of concern that teacher education institutes continue to exist as insular organisations even within the University system where they are located. 2)Recognising ‘quality’ as the essence of a programme of teacher education, the Commission recommended the introduction of “integrated courses of general and professional education in Universities with greater scope for self-study, discussion and a comprehensive programme of internship.”

3)In continuation to this, the Chattopadhayay Committee Report (1983-85) discussed numerous problems as well as steps to be taken to bring about satisfactory improvement in elementary and secondary teacher education.

 Major recommendations given by the Chattopadhayay Commission report are

1)The report observed that “what obtains in the majority of our Teaching Colleges and Training Institutes is  inadequate” and thus, “If teacher education is to be made relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the New Teacher, the minimum length of training for a secondary teacher should be five years following the completion of Class XII.”

2)The report reiterating the need “to enable general and professional education to be pursued concurrently” meaning thereby that there is an urgent need to integrate general and professional education.

3)The Commission recommends that  four year programme for both the secondary and elementary pre-service teacher education may be integrated, which should be developed carefully.

4)It recommends that the B.Ed. programme should be extended by two summer months having total of 220 days in a session with longer working hours expressing the concern over poor quality of teacher education.

5) The report envisioned the teacher  as one who communicates to pupils “the importance of national integrity and unity; the need for a scientific attitude; a commitment to excellence in standards of work and action and a concern for society.”

6)The report addresses that the quality improvement in teacher education by being in par with developments in science and technology but keeping the cultural identity of the system in India to be intact.

7) The development of special courses & programmes, and revision and improvement of curricula was emphasized.

8) The report stressed that the prospective teachers need courses which will help them to build up a proper perspective of life.

National Policy on Education (1986-1992) 

1)In 1986, the government led by Rajiv Gandhi introduced a new National Policy on Education.

 2)The new policy called for “special emphasis on the removal of disparities and to equalise educational opportunity,” especially for Indian women, Scheduled Tribes (ST) and the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities.

3)It was realised that our country has come to a stage where major decisions in education are necessary to be taken.

4)With the aim it was announced in January 1985 that a new education policy would be created and suggestions will be taken from the experts around the country.

5)The National Policy on Education 1986 was the result of the discussion occurred in Budget Session in 1985 during the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

6)The main issues of that time was equality, population, rural education, adult education, minorities education, technological education, vocational education, etc. that need to be improved in coming years.

7) Twenty three Task Forces were constituted and each one was assigned a particular task as per the National Policy on Education.

8)The Task Force submitted their reports in July 1986 and amended in the year 1992 named as Programme of Action or POA 1992.

9)The task force have educationists, experts from state and central Governments, etc.

10)Late Rajiv Gandhi Ji said that the country need “new education policy which will bring economic and scientific development and prepare it for the 21st century.”

National Policy on Education regarding Teacher’s education (1986)

1) Improvement in the living and working/service conditions of teachers.

2)Creation of an effective machinery for removal of grievances.

3) Involvement of teachers in the planning and management of education.

4)Involvement of teachers’ associations in upholding the dignity of teachers, their professional integrity and curbing professional misconduct.

5)Preparation of a code of professional ethics for teachers and ensuring that teachers perform their duties in accordance with acceptable norms.

6)Willingness to take hard decisions with regard to the observance of above two points.

7)Creation of opportunities and atmosphere to promote autonomy and innovation among teachers.

NCFT(2009)

1)The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, 2009 (NCF 2009) is a Government of India draft.

2) It’s sole purpose is to propose any changes or updates that the National Council for Teacher Education requires. 

3)The NCF 2009 also aims to help teachers in the following aspects.

a)Professionalization education of teacher. Further, prepare teacher educators

b) ODL (open and distant learning) in teacher education

c)Vocational education for teachers. Also, health and physical education for teachers

d)Research and innovations in teacher education is critical as well.

Concerns of Teacher Education in NCFTE, 2009

The NCFTE, 2009 focused on the following concerns of teacher education before making the Curriculum Framework

a)Professionalization of teacher education.

b)Preparing teacher educators.

c)Research and innovation in teacher education.

d)Open and distance learning (ODL) in Teacher Education.

e)Education of teachers in health and physical education.

f)Education of teachers for vocational stream.

The strategies to implement systematic and comprehending framework of curriculum for the teachers education 

1) The framework ensures every sphere of education e.g. Theoretical, Practical, Psychological, Philosophical and also Socio-Economic aspect.

2) NCFTE, 2009 gave a single paradigm and caught all the features of curriculum to bring a desirable change in teacher education.

3)NCFTE, 2009 has made an impact in the scenario of educational system. According to the view of NCFTE, 2009 open and Distance learning (ODL) programme for teachers has also been started in the states.

4)NCFTE, 2009 paves the way for implementation of curricular areas by giving practical and reasonable strategies.

Conclusion

1)The NCFTE, 2009 is much more relevant in the present scenario of the teacher education in India with only  problem  of implementation. 

2)It is very hard in our Country to practice any new idea in a short time. All the people concerning educational field should look into the framework, exchange their ideas, make positive approaches and pave the way for a positive change in the field of teacher’s education without which the future generation cannot be groomed properly.