Teacher recruitment and training through the decade
The decade has witnessed a number of reforms in the teaching sector that were undertaken by the government to overhaul the education system of the country. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) overlooks the school and higher education institutes of the country. The Ministry, helmed by Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', has proposed many changes and adopted them to ensure that right educational opportunities are disseminated to the students.
A total of 94,16,895 teachers are currently enrolled in schools and 14,16,299 in higher education institutes, as per government's latest record.
A total of 15,50,006 schools are running with 24,78,53,688 students.
A total of 14.04 lakh teachers are engaged in higher education institutes (HEIs) teaching 3.5 crore students. The total numbers of HEIs in the country are 53,620 which include, among others, 50 central universities and 404 state universities that are managed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and technical institutes which come under the ambit of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).
Below are discussed the major programmes and initiatives undertaken by the government to strengthen the teaching sector of the country.
Reinforcing Teaching Standard Through Training Programs
NIOS D.El.Ed. Training Programme
In order to train in-service teachers, MHRD started a training program in October 2017. The sole objective of the program, which was undertaken by the then HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, was to provide training and award Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) to untrained in-service teachers, in primary and upper primary government, government-aided and private unaided schools across the country, who have joined on or before August 10, 2017. The government had envisaged to train 11 lakh teachers by March 31, 2019. The onus of the exam was given to National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), as it was difficult to provide classroom training to all the teachers. In the first exam of D.El.Ed more than 12 lakh teachers had participated. A supplementary exam for those who could not qualify the exam within March 2019 will be held in January 2020.
The exams are held for Elementary Education in India: A Socio Cultural Perspective, Pedagogic Processes in Elementary Schools, Learning Languages at Elementary Level, Learning Mathematics at Elementary Level, Learning Environmental Studies at Primary Level, Understanding Children in Inclusive Context, Community & Elementary Education, Learning in Art, Health, Physical and Work Education at Elementary Level and Learning Social Science at Upper Primary Level or Learning Science at Upper Primary Level.
Online Programme on School Leadership and Management
With an objective to convert schools into 'centres of excellence', the government planned to train the Heads of the schools across the country. The MHRD envisaged there was a need to shift the role of school heads from mere execution of administrative and managerial responsibilities to initiating proactive practices for school transformation.
This online programme, which is free of cost, was started in 2012. Upon completion, teachers were awarded with a Certificate in School Leadership and Management.
National Initiative on School Teachers Head Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA)
Envisaged by MHRD to be one of the biggest projects undertaken ever, the NISHTHA aims to train 42 lakh teachers. It was launched in August 2019 at the silver jubilee celebration of the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE). All the elementary school level teachers, principals, block resource centre coordinators and cluster resource centre coordinators will be imparted training through this programme.
Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT)
The MHRD had launched Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT), November 2018, for the professional development of higher education faculty. Through ARPIT all in-service teachers, irrespective of their subject and seniority are given opportunity to keep abreast of the latest developments in their disciplines through the technology based online refresher courses.
Leadership For Academicians Programme (LEAP)
Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP), a leadership development training programme, was also launched in November 2018. The training includes 2 weeks of domestic training and one week of foreign training. The purpose of this scheme is to fulfill a long perceived need of preparing senior faculty, such as Deans, Head of Departments for future governance roles as leaders in academic institutions. LEAP training is provided by 15 NIRF top ranked Indian Institutions namely, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee; IIT Kanpur; NIT Trichy; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata; Jawaharlal Nehru University; IIT (BHU); University of Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology Bombay; TISS Mumbai; University of Hyderabad ; NIEPA, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur; Jamia Milia Islamia; Banaras Hindu University and AMU.
Changes In Teacher Recruitment System
Online Hiring Method
Aiming for a transparent system for teacher recruitment, the government had asked states and union territories to develop online recruitment system. Few states and union territories have started using online system for the recruitment of teachers, as per NITI Aayog's School Education Quality Index released this year.
The online recruitment process includes: annual assessment of the teacher demand that includes the total number of vacancies, written test, online advertisement for recruitment, online display of marks secured by all applicants, online display of objective, merit-based criteria for selection and transparent, online counselling for teachers.
Teacher recruitment is held at national level through Central Teacher Eligibility Test which is also referred to as CTET and state level teacher eligibility test known as TET. The exams are notified separately and are held separately so as to give the aspirants adequate time for preparation.
The government had also taken care of the recruitment of the school education leaders- Principals and Headmasters. Currently vacancies for this post are typically filled on the basis of seniority. However the government has encouraged states and union territories to recruit for these posts through merit-based system. Six states and union territories have already adopted the merit based selection method for school Principals and Headmasters.
Changes In B.Ed. Programme
Changes were also made in the Bachelor in Education (B.Ed.) programme which is a qualifying degree for recruitment as teacher. The advisory body set up by the government to overlook the teacher education programs, NCTE, had revised the norms and standards for 15 teacher education programmes in 2014. The new regulation introduced three new programmes-- 4-year B.A/ B.Sc.B.Ed., 3 year B.Ed. (Part-time), and 3 year B.Ed.-M.Ed. programme.
However in July 2019, the then HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had announced that the government is planning to introduce 4 year integrated B.Ed. programme. On February 7, at the National Principals Meet, the education minister had said that teachers should be passionate about their profession. Teachers are the sculptures of the future of the country. Teaching should become a profession of choice but not a profession of leftover that is why we are introducing 4-year integrated B.Ed course in the coming academic year.
Sources in the NCTE had confirmed it to many media outlets that the Council has reworked the curriculum. Opting for the 4 year integrated B.Ed. course, candidates will save one year. Currently it takes 5 years to get a B.Ed. degree as candidates join it after graduation and then study for 2 more years. Prior to 2014, B.Ed. programmes were of one year duration. The government had decided to change it to two years in order to add more professional rigour and make it at par with best international standards.
UGC Regulations For Teacher Recruitment
In order to curb the issue of shortage of teachers in HEIs, the University Grants Commission (UGC) in June 2019 had directed the HEIs to conduct teacher recruitment within a time frame of six months. The Commission had released "Guidelines for recruitment of faculty in Universities, Colleges and Institutions Deemed to be Universities" in which it asked the HEIs to initiate and complete the selection process of teachers within a time frame of 6 months.
Also, to maintain the quality of education imparted in HEIs, UGC has also from time to time amended the norms that decide the minimum qualifications for recruitment to the post of Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, Professors, Senior Professors, Principals, Assistant Librarians, Deputy Librarians, Librarians, Assistant Directors of Physical Education and Sports, Deputy Directors of Physical Education and Sports and Directors of Physical Education and Sports.
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