Education
MHRD takes various steps to improve quality of teachers
Ministry of Human Resource Development takes various steps towards improving the quality of teachers across the country.
As education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, a majority of the schools are under the jurisdiction of respective States and Union Territories (UT). Hence, the recruitment, service conditions and deployment of teachers are primarily in the domain of respective State Governments and UT Administrations. However,Samagra Shiksha, a centrally sponsored scheme which has been launched in 2018-19 for the education sector extending from pre-school to class 12 by subsuming three erstwhile schemes i.e., Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) has provisions for induction and in-service training of teachers.
The purpose of teachers’ training is not only improvement of skills but also to facilitate a shift in the understanding of teaching and learning as stipulated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005. The RTE Act also attaches immense significance to the role of teachers in improving elementary education by making available professionally trained teachers for the school system. Moreover, teacher training is provided for all levels of teachers from pre-primary to the higher secondary level. In-service teacher training is provided to elementary school teachers through the institutional structure of Block Resource Clusters and Cluster Resource Centers. Additionally, pre-service teacher training is provided to eligible candidates in Government Teacher Education Institutes like District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and Institutes of Advanced Studies in Education (IASEs). The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) prepares a combined annual teacher training calendar with active participation of various state agencies and is also the nodal agency in the state for conduct of Teacher Training. Accordingly, funds are provided to states and UTs for Teacher Training under Samagra Shiksha.
Section 23(2) of The Right of Children to free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 has been amended, according to which all untrained in-service elementary teachers are required to acquire minimum qualifications as laid down by the academic authority by 31st March, 2019. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has been entrusted with the task of conducting the training of untrained in-service elementary teachers. 13,78,979 untrained in-service teachers have confirmed admissions at NIOS Portal. NIOS is conducting D.El.Ed. programme through Open Distance Learning (ODL) mode and SWAYAM platform. SWAYAMPRABHA DTH channels are also used for this purpose.
Further, a four year B.Ed integrated course to bring about qualitative improvement in teacher education programmes in India has been conceptualised and regulations for this course has been published in official gazette on 22nd November, 2018. The model curriculum prepared for this course includes crucial aspects like Gender, Inclusive education, ICT, Yoga, Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Health & Sanitation. The teaching specialization would primarily be for the primary levels and the secondary level.
In order to provide supplementary learning material for students and for upgrading the skills of teachers, MHRD has developed a dedicated Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) platform. The high quality e-learning material both for students and teachers are being uploaded by Ministry and States/UTs on this portal. This is expected to substantially augment the knowledge base of the students and technical skills of teachers at no additional cost.