TEACHER EDUCATION IN INDIA
When we start talking about Teacher Education In India, Gurukul system comes first in mind. However, influence of caste system and gender disparities were few demerits of Gurukul system of education. East India Company established the education system which favoured the production of skilled labour. East India Company also established teacher education system as per their requirements, which made teaching a profession rather than responsibility. More than the profession, in ancient India teaching was considered a responsibility.
At that time, there were no fixed salaries of teachers. They were being paid higher at that time by the parents and community. That time society used to feel that honouring gurus (teachers) with wealth and other perks. It was their responsibility because it is guru/teacher who give light to life of their kids.
Comparison of Indian and UK education system reveals that they replaced education system in India only for their own benefit, and they followed the modified version of Indian ancient education system in their own country. In UK, education is free for students. Where, society pay taxes and contributed in the growth of education by their wish. They made education a social responsibility in their own country but made it a profession in India.
Teacher in Ancient India
In ancient India, teacher education had different form which was an integral part of education system itself. That time no separate teacher education institutions were existing. The best student, who was also willing to be a teacher, were nurtured by same guru in direction of making him a guru in future. The whole training of teacher (GURU) used to take place in real environment where they will have to serve in future. The best students among all aspirants used to be the first choice of the guru as next guru.
Teacher in Present
Content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, behavioural aspects, dedication towards teaching, and keen willingness to be a teacher were having equal importance for a teacher. In gurukuls, teachers were equal to god and were worshiped but britishers gave a materialistic platform to teacher education which was adopted by Indian government post-independence. Following this system, education as well as teacher education became liability to the nation. The decision of adopting colonial teacher education system was taken due to the increasing population and poverty at that time.
Teacher in Past v/s Teacher in Present
It is not first time that this difference between gurukul system and present teacher education is being discussed. Indian government and educationists are well aware of drawbacks of teacher education system adopted post-independence. After independence Indian government has taken various initiatives and constituted various committees to transform the teacher education in India. A total of 74 years of independence has witnessed various recommendations in the field of teacher education. From Secondary Education Commission in 1952-53 to National Education Policy 2020, teacher education has been discussed in various policy initiatives.
Numerous recommendations are being repeated, a number of announcements has been made and thousands of workshops, conferences and seminars are being organised to improve teacher education and condition of teachers in country.
How Far the Real Goal Achieved
Instead repeated recommendations, and failure in implementation of the same has now become the culture of India. Recommendations like four-year integrated degree, productive training/internship, provision of stipend etc. have been part of all commissions since 1952 (Secondary Education Commission) to 2020 (National Education Policy). But they have not been implemented yet, and still exist in the form of recommendations for almost seven decades. On 27th Dec, 2016, foundational stone for RIE Nellor, Andhra Pradesh was laid jointly by Vice President, Sh. M. Venkaiah Naidu.
Although, four-year course for teacher education to ensure that teaching is the first priority of the prospective teacher/trainee was first suggested in 1983 but still it is not fully implemented. RIEs are running such courses with excellent outputs and results, University of Delhi, Punjab University are also running four year teacher education course. Despite the success of four year course in various institutions, India is still struggling to implement this idea. Reason of ignorance of teacher education institutions towards starting four-year course is still unidentified.
However, closing or reframing these private institutions is in priority list of state of Haryana. But on ground nothing much has changed and these private colleges are still running with impunity. A dedicated teacher Education University in each state was also an initiative, but no such university was established in any state except Tamilnadu. In Haryana, private institutions created hurdles in establishment of Ch Ranbir Singh University in Jind as a Teacher education university. Therefore, question arises that was there any ground level research before announcement of setting up RIEs in each state? Or it was mere a declaration on the basis of assumptions.
Conclusion
It is the biggest question in front of government, members of commission, educationist, and all of us that “do we study the capacity, ground level feasibilities, financial and administrative strength and coordination between the national, state government and various ground level aspects before recommending anything in the field”. As a field member or practitioner in education, needless to say that a huge financial grant in various institutions and departments are allocated but that remains unutilised or underutilised. Do we lack at political level, auditory level, at ground level or at the part of intention due to which our education system fail at implementation part.
One major recommendation of NEP 2020 is that no stand-alone institution will work in the field. They will be converted in multidisciplinary institutions. In this regard, it is not clarified by the experts of NEP 2020 that RIEs and such other institution like PRARAMBH in Haryana are stand-alone institutions or not. If policy consider them as stand-alone then did the expert think about the success of such institution, placement of pass out from these institutions. If they are working as ideal institutions, then why an additional recommendation was laid down.
REFERENCES
Lokman Ali, Teacher Education (New Delhi, 2012), pp.42.
A Study on the Policies of Teacher Education in Post-Independence Period Mahua Choudhury
Volume-III, Issue-V March 2017 322 Dr Gaurav Singh, Teacher Education (New Delhi, 2013), p.12.
Must read Journey of Teacher Education in India
Rajni is an accomplished education professional who holds a PhD in Education and MPhil and MA degrees in Economics. She has extensive experience in research, having published over 16 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to articles in an edited book. Additionally, Rajni has authored a book in the field of education.
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