Teacher's Day September 5 - Are we creating Good Teachers?

Instituted in 1958, the National Award to Teachers are given away by the President of India on 5th September (Teacher's Day) every year to give public recognition to meritorious teachers working in primary, middle and secondary schools. There are 366 awards out of which 20 awards are reserved for Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic teachers. Each State/Union Territory/Organization has an earmarked quota based on the number of teachers. The Scheme also covers teachers of the schools affiliated to CBSE including teachers of independent affiliated schools situated abroad, ICSCE, Sainik School, KVS, NVS, CTSA and schools run by the Atomic energy Education Society.

From the award year 2001, 33 ‘Special Awards’ have been earmarked to teachers promoting integrated inclusive education in schools and promote the education of children with disabilities in regular schools by States/UTs and other school system.  

Dr. J.S. Rajput, ex-Director, NCERT & former Chairman, NCTE, lamented vehemently on the quality of teacher education and its cascading effect on the children in his article, entitled, " A Mess called Teacher Education" published in "The Hindu" on September 3, 2011.  He said "The National Council for Teacher Education Act passed in Parliament in 1993 has been superseded by the Central government. Strangely enough, no tears have been shed over the near-vanishing of the NCTE. The Council was supposed to assist teachers and their training institutions in upgrading quality and professionalism in the critical area of teacher preparation to enable a strong and dynamic system of school education.

It must be recalled that a non-statutory NCTE was created in 1973 located in the NCERT. There was a consistent demand from enlightened teacher educators, educationists and scholars for setting up a statutory body, pointing out that the quality of teacher education was deteriorating. These genuine efforts resulted in the NCTE Act after 20 years.

But the reputation the NCTE earned is just the opposite of what was expected of it. The lament of quality deterioration in the 1970s and the 1980s mostly centred on the mushrooming B.Ed correspondence courses, which were mostly regarded as poor and deficient in quality. The NCTE succeeded in regulating these courses during the first couple of years of its existence. And then, quietly, everything changed and the great mushrooming of teacher education institutions from around a mere 2,500 to over 14,000 in the next seven years came as a shocking surprise to many.

The entire country knew how teacher education institutions were approved and what was happening in the name of preparing teachers who would be entrusted with shaping the future generations in comprehensive development of their personalities. The brazenness reached such proportions that the Centre, generally perceived to be reluctant to act against corruption and the corrupt, had to act. Yes, corruption is under discussion throughout the country: corruption in teacher education figures prominently in it!"

He further added, "My worry is very naïve: How could this mushrooming growth of below par institutions continued for years together when facts were known to all? How will the Minister of HRD interpret the loss that is being inflicted upon the young generation by providing them with teachers who got practically nothing by way of education and training in their teacher preparation institutions!  Can anyone visualise the damage that could be caused by an ill-prepared teacher for about 40 years? It is crucial to examine these aspects on Teachers' Day as the maximum responsibility devolves on the teacher educators themselves! In case the present generation avoids performing this essential duty, it would fail in its trusteeship role for the future generations."

Education will have little meaning if it fails, in the words of Dr. Radhakrishnan, “to train us to apprehend the eternal values, to appreciate the supreme human virtues and the simple decencies of life. We must be educated not for cruelty and power but for love and kindness.”