Teacher Education in Jammu and Kashmir

1)The education system of the state of Jammu and Kashmir underwent a dramatic shift with the deposition of Maharaja Pratap Singh from the throne in 1889 and the establishment of the British residency and state council to direct the affairs of the princely state. 

2)Education became a central component of the state’s drive towards centralization and administration along the lines of British India. The Kashmir Government which was importing Punjabis to run state administration also began to import Punjabis as teacher trainers.

3) The efforts to improve the educational system can be gauged by Pt. Bhishember Nath’s (inspector schools) recommendations in 1889 to the state council that Maktabs and Patshaslas bring under the purview of the department of education. 

4)The second educational conference of Jammu and Kashmir in 1915 made the darbar seek help from the government of India in the educational affairs of the state.

5)In 1939, the Saiydian committee report recommended that a scheme of refresher courses for all categories of teachers should be started to acquaint teachers with new thoughts and trends in education. As a result, sufficient funds were allocated for the upgradation of labs, a library and the building of a teacher training school. 

6)In 1950, the Kazimi committee recommended that no untrained teachers should be recruited to the department and that qualified and trained teachers should invariably be posted in the teacher training schools to improve the quality of teacher education in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The committee also recommended the scrapping of basic education courses, junior vernacular and senior vernacular (BEC, JV&SV) and the institution of uniform training to be called certificate in teaching (CT). 

Educational reforms after independence

  1. After independence, sheikh Abdullah the then PM of Jammu and Kashmir took initiative to improve the quality of teacher education. Teacher pay scales were revised based on qualification & training. Scholarships and incentives were provided to the teachers undergoing teacher training courses. 
  2. By the end of the year 1956 two full-fledged teachers’ training colleges each in Jammu and Kashmir were set up.  
  3. In 1966, there were 18 training schools, 7 were co-educational, 6 were for men and 5 were for women and out of these 18 institutions 10 were in Kashmir and 8 were in the Jammu region. In the second phase of development covered by the third plan 1961-66, 4 more training schools were opened each at Leh, Kargil, Poonch and Reasi. At present, there are 141 B.Ed. colleges in the state except two, the rest are private colleges .
  4.  After the university education (Radhakrishnan commission 1948-49), various steps were taken by the state government to make effective improvements in the teacher education in terms of:

1. Provide better qualified and trained staff in teacher training institutions.

2. Provide better institutional and academic resources.

3. Revised and updated syllabi and courses of study at B.Ed. and M.Ed. levels.

4. In-service training programmes were strengthened state of Jammu and Kashmir. and M.ed levels.

Recommendations of Bhagwan Sahay committee 1972

1)In 1972,Bhagwan Sahay committee report observed that one of the weakest areas in the state was that of the training of teachers. 

2)The percentage of trained teachers was low at 63% in primary school, 78%in middle school & 89% in secondary schools and the duration of training for primary and middle school teachers was only one year as against the needed two years. 

3) The teacher training schools didn’t have adequate status and high-quality staff. They were also not properly provided with buildings, land, labs, libraries, hostels and equipment.

4) As a result of the committee report, the teacher training schools and colleges were equipped with infrastructure and trained staff. Services of NCERT were requisitioned in the preparation of subject-wise resource persons who further trained teachers to improve the quality of education in Jammu and Kashmir state.

5)The first college of education in the private sector was sanctioned by the government of Jammu and Kashmir in the year 1980-81 as a model institute of education and research, Jammu to meet the burning demand as well as to provide quality education. 

National policy of education 1986

  1. Several programmes were initiated to improve the quality of teacher education in Jammu and Kashmir state. These include the establishment of the district institute of education (DIET) & Institute of Advanced study in education (IASE).

2)Substantial financial support was provided in the upgrading of existing buildings, labs, library, hostels etc. Qualified trained and experienced teachers were deployed in teacher education institutions. Various programmes for teacher capacity building were initiated.

3)Innovative good practices in teacher education institutions were introduced, restructuring of teacher training curriculum was carried out, and more emphasis was laid on the practice of teaching.

4) much emphasis was laid on the expansion of teacher education in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

CONCLUSION

1)The special status of Jammu and Kashmir has kept it away from the jurisdiction of several education-related acts including RTE and NCTE. But the concerns regarding the untrained teachers in Jammu and Kashmir have now shifted their attention to ratifying the acts passed. 

2)The main purpose of the teacher education programme is to develop values, skills, professional attitude and personality which seems impossible because the course is more exam-oriented and less profession oriented.