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Quality of B.Ed schools under scrutiny

Rajiv Raghunath

Training the trainer is an important aspect of school education. But, till recent times, several universities and institutes offering teachers training programmes in the country were making a business of it rather than setting quality standards for pedagogy. Many of them were actually channeling the money earned from such programmes for setting up medical colleges, other professional institutes, and the like, instead of ploughing back the earnings for further development of the training programmes.

Commercialisation of teachers education had reached a point where many universities began to flout all norms, by enrolling unrealistically high numbers of candidates at any time of the year for the training programmes, with the sole purpose of raising huge funds. Quality was a non-issue in such endeavours. B.Ed. degrees were being conferred on the most undeserving candidates. No wonder, larger number of candidates from far down south India went all the way to states like Bihar and Rajasthan just `to buy theirB.Ed. degrees'.

The proliferation of teachers training programmes and the lack of quality control in this education led to a disproportionately high number of so-called `trained teachers' graduating each year. Prof J S Rajput, chairperson, National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), informs that as per estimates in December 1994, there were 68,000 teachers with B.Ed. degrees in Tamil Nadu alone, thanks to the liberal approach of education centres like Annamalai University.

In August 1995, the government set up NCTE as a statutory body for regulating teachers training courses in India, with Rajput as the chairperson. The Council, based in Delhi, has four regional offices in Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Bhopal. As per the NCTE Act, 1993, no new teachers training institute can be set up without the approval of NCTE, and the existing ones too have to get due recognition from the Council for their respective programmes. As of July 31, 1998, the Council has granted recognition to 289 institutes out of2,585 teachers training institutes that are functioning in the country. Another 875 institutions have been granted provisional recognition. While 1045 cases are under process at NCTE, 47 institutions have been denied recognition, and 329 institutions are still to apply for recognition. As per the NCTE norms, correspondence courses for teachers training must be spread over 24 months, and the intake for a given course must not exceed 500 candidates. The staff strength should be in the ratio of 1:10. Moreover, universities will be required to limit their courses to territorial jurisdictions. This will help NCTE monitor their course content and quality of intake.

While most universities and institutes have shown a willingness to comply with these norms, Rajput informs that resistance has come from certain universities in Bihar, like L N Mithila University, Magadh University and B N Mandal University. ``Nasik University has also rhown resistance towards accepting NCTE norms,'' says Rajput.

Insitutes deviseingenuous ways of circumventing the NCTE norms. In one particular case, in Bihar, an institute this year advertised for admission to its B.Ed. course for the period before the NCTE Act, 1993, to escape the NCTE norms. Rajput cautions all B.Ed. candidates to ensure that they pursue their studies at institutions recognised by NCTE. ``Or else, their degrees will become invalidated soon,'' he warns.

While correspondence courses cannot be entirely be done away with in teachers education, Rajput informs that institutions have been told to enhance the face-to-face training for teachers in the presence of a qualified trainer. ``Just as a doctor or a swimmer cannot perfect the art by reading from books, a teacher must also undergo practical training. He must understand the psychology of students,'' says Rajput.

The Supreme Court has taken serious note of the falling standards in teachers education. In a judgement in 1993 on matters related to teacher training, the Court stated that ``Training in a properlyorganised and equipped institute is essential before a candidate becomes qualified to receive teachers training certificate. Simply passing the examination is not enough. The future teachers of the country must pass through the institutions which have maintained standards of excellence at all levels.''Rajput says that NCTE will take to Court institutions that are violating the norms that have been laid out on teacher training.

Further, to ensure planned and coordinated development of teacher education and for maintenance of norms and standards in the teacher education system, NCTE has come out with the `Curriculum Framework for Quality Teacher Education'. The document focuses on the global view of new trends in teacher education, strategies and practices, and also draws attention to the importance of linking training to the ``indigenous heritage and thought in the country''.

NCTE is also involved in the preparation of ``competency based curriculum for elementary teacher education institutions'',organising of seminars on indigenous thoughts on education and their relevance in the modern context, compiling of a directory of teacher educations of India, etc.Some of the main activities in progress at NCTE are: