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TopEducation – An Introduction
Education is provided by the public as well as private institutions in India and it is the responsibility of Central as well as State Governments to provide the educational facilities to countrymen. Since independence, there were various Commissions, Policies, Acts, Rules, and Regulations have been formulated at both the School as well as Higher education levels to improve the status of education. After independence, it has been realized by the policy makers and as per Article 45 of Indian Constitution:
The State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. (MHRD, 2017)1
Articles 15, 16, 19, 28, 25, 29, 46, 146, 244, 330 and 335 of Indian Constitution provide various constitutional provisions with reference to education and equity. In spite of these all constitutional and legislative provisions, the outcome is not as healthy as it must be. The child is the focus of our whole education system and teachers play a pivotal role in shaping the child’s ideology. The quality of education depends largely on the quality of its teachers but this observation has not been expanded to the intention that quality teachers come out from the institutions where high-quality teacher educators exist. A significant contribution of teacher preparation in its development of teachers’ aptitude to examine teaching from the learners’ point of view brings diverse experiences and analogies to the classroom (Darling-Hammond, 2000). Although, there are serious drawbacks in teacher preparation programs either in-service or pre-service. Formal teacher education persists to have low ‘ecological validity’ and emphasizes tensions in the selection and technical expertise of DIET staff, and in their attitudes towards basic teachers, that confine engagement with local contexts (Dyer et al., 2004). According to Anurag Behar, CEO Azim Premji Foundation there are four methods to improve our education system that2:
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In order to perform better, the faculties must be paid better, which will then lead to improvement (Ballou & Podgursky, 1997);
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Governments should attempt and attract scholastic fraternity to become teachers. Coherent salary packages, high standard recruitment practices and conditions to support professional satisfaction are some key areas which should be kept in consideration;
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There is no alternate of a good teacher and the capacities of teachers must be developed to perform better via high quality teacher trainings.
The teachers who are more prepared for teaching are more confident and successful with students than those who have had little or none (Darling-Hammond, 2000). The research also indicates that the reforms in teacher training creating more tightly integrated programs with specialized coursework on teaching and learning construct teachers who are more effective as well as more likely to come into and stay in the teaching profession. The policies implemented by states regarding teacher training and professional development may create a significant difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their profession (Darling-Hammond, 2000). Policy recommendations comprise the development and upgrading of teacher training programs in India as well as other developing countries, along with thorough research into the demographic, structural, and cultural framework for each program and focusing on the advancement of teacher knowledge and aptitude in specific subject areas (Husen et al., 1978).