TEACHER EDUCATION IN JAMMU & KASHMIR
Arun K. Gupta
D. R. Kapoor
INTRODUCTION
Jammu
& Kashmir State is the northern most
part of the India with population more
than one crore as per Census figures and covers the area of approximately
2,22,236 sq. Kms. The state is divided into three
regions namely, Kashmir, Jammu
and Ladakh and further subdivided into 22 districts
for administration and carrying out developmental programmes. The State of J
& K has its own Constitution besides the Constitution of India and enjoys
special status under article 370. Topography of the State comes in the way of
developing adequate infrastructure and is further compounded by terrorism and
militancy, which have taken a heavy toll of life and public property besides
throwing normal life out of gear.
Education could not escape from this tragedy as most of the educational
institutions in rural areas in the valley were destroyed and loss of schooling
hours immensely affected the learning outcomes.
As per Economic Survey 2006-07, the State of J&K lags far behind in
social sector i.e. education, public health, sanitation, and social welfare.
Per capita income comes out at Rs.17,174 per annum as
against the national average of Rs.25,907.
J&K figures among the last four most illiterate and educationally
backward state. It is fact that no system of education can rise above the level
of its teachers. Good teachers are
invaluable assets for nation building and this fact has been recognized and
highlighted in the National Policy of Education (1986). This emphatically calls for a drastic and
urgent revision in the existing policies and practices regarding recruitment,
training and retention of teachers based on well tried out programme of
innovation, experimentation and research.
Therefore, teacher education is in urgent need of reorganization so as
to ensure the highest quality and standard. The system of teacher preparation
or training in J&K has come under sharp criticism at the hand of both
experts and public at large. Critics
have termed our system of teacher preparation as “obsolete” “bookish”’ “ill
concerned”, impractical”, “ill planned”, “uninspiring” and ”mushroom
growth”. It affected adversely: (a) the
quality of faculty and the head, (b) access and use of learning resources (library
and ICT), (c) teaching and evaluation methodology, and (d) professional
development. It also suffers from ‘adhocism’,
‘politicization’, ‘groupism’, ‘and half hearted
efforts at developing teacher competencies among prospective teacher’. The casual implementation of pre-service
programme for student teacher could not produce good teachers. It is divorced from realities of the school
and suffers from lack of financial support.
These institutions, therefore, are need to be revamped to produce
professionally trained teachers, fully equipped with both high academic
standards, pedagogical practical skill,
ethical and moral values. In the back drop of the past, quality in teacher
education has always been given top priority by the rulers of J&K
state. In order to improve the quality
of teaching and to leaven student’s learning activities with conscious efforts and perseverance,
these rulers laid much emphasis on frequent revision of pedagogic learning
contents and on periodic seminars and group discussions. The outstanding teachers were given
certificates and cash
awards. They also provided substantial
grants and scholarships for training of teachers at the local normal schools
and the college at Lahore. As a result, the number of certificated
teachers increased every year but the proportion of untrained teachers still
remained large, especially in the Kashmir
province.
In
1939, the Saiydian Committee Report recommended that
teacher training schools should be properly staffed & equipped and a scheme
of Refresher courses for all categories of teachers should be started to
acquaint teachers with new thought and trends in education. As a result, sufficient funds were allocated
for ungradation of labs, library and building of
teacher training school. Refresher
courses were started for enhancing competency of teachers. In 1950, the Kazimi Committee Report observed that untrained and
unqualified teachers could not produce the best results. Moreover, teacher
education institutions were not equipped with infrastructure such as building,
labs, and library and the teaching staff deployed was also not qualified and
trained. The committee recommended that
no untrained teachers should be recruited to the department and that qualified
and trained teachers should invariably be posted in the teacher training
schools to improve the quality of teacher education in the State of J &
K. The Committee also recommended the
scraping of Basic Education Course, Junior Vernacular, and Senior Vernacular
(BEC, JV& SV) and the institution of a uniform training to be called
certificate in Teaching (CT). Most of
the recommendations of the committee were implemented to raise the standard of
teacher education. After independence, Sheik Abdullah, the then Prime minister
of J & K State took initiative to improve the
quality of teacher education. Teacher
pay scales were revised on the basis of qualification and training. Scholarships and incentives were provided to
the teachers undergoing teacher training courses outside the state. By the end of the year 1956 two full fledged
teachers training colleges each in J & K were set up. The concept of multipurpose school was
initiated in the country in the year1952-53 and J & K was the first state
to accept that proposal and in consequence there of three multipurpose schools
were started in the first instance state.
Teachers were also gradually trained to cater to the needs of the new
courses of studies.
In
1972, Bhagwan Sahay
Committee Report observed that one of the weakest areas in the state was that
of the training of teachers. The
percentage of trained teachers was low as 63% in primary school, 78% in middle
school & 89% in secondary schools and the duration of training for primary
and middle school teachers was only one year as against the needed two
years. There was hardly any provision
for in- service education. The teacher
training schools did not have adequate status and high quality staff. They were also not properly provided with
building, land, labs, libraries, hostels and equipments. The committee
recommended that:
-Infrastructure
i.e. buildings, labs, library, hostels should be provided at teacher training
schools and college level.
-Qualified
& trained teachers should be posted in teacher Education schools and
colleges.
-Teacher
in college of education should have a master degree in education (M. Ed.)
-Model
school at district level should be attached with teacher education school or
college for practice of teaching.
-Resource
persons (subject wise) should be identified & trained through subject
expert of the NCERT.
-In
service programmes such as complex Programme, refresher courses based on
selected themes, and refresher courses of two months duration for every teacher of
five years of service.
-The
college should have three specific responsibilities-pre-service education of
one year, refresher course for teachers and provision of extension service to
schools in the district. They should function as local agents for many
programmes of the State Institute of Education.
As
a result of the Committee Report, the backlog of untrained teachers was
reduced. Teacher training schools and colleges were equipped with
infrastructure and trained staff. Services of NCERT were requisitioned in the
preparation of subject-wise resource persons who further trained teachers to
improve the quality of education in J
& K State.
The
First College
of education in the private sector was sanctioned by the Government of Jammu
& Kashmir in the year 1980-81 at Model Institute of Education and Research,
Jammu to meet
the burgeoning demand as well as to provide quality education. The first
attempt was made in 1973 to restructure the curriculum and the document on
teacher education was prepared. The objective of the teacher education
programme in this document was to have change in the content and the design as
also the restructuring of teacher education programmes. In fact the recommendations which were made
through this document could not be translated effectively, meaningfully and
purposefully by the state.
As
a follow up of 1986 Policy,
a number of programmes were initiated to improve the quality of
teacher education in J & K
State. These include
establishment of
District Institute of Education (DIET) and Institutes of Advanced
study (IASE) in Education. Substantial
financial support was provided in upgrading of existing buildings, labs,
library, hostels etc. Qualified trained and experienced teachers were deployed
in teacher education institutions. Various programmes for teacher capacity
building were initiated. Innovative good practices in teacher educational
institutions were introduced. Restructuring of teacher training curriculum was
carried out. More emphasis was laid on practice of teaching. In fact, much
emphasis was laid on expansion of teacher education in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and
little effort was made in the direction of improving the quality of teacher
education. In 1990, the report submitted by NCTE Review Committee chaired by
late Prof. Buch corroborates with prevailing teacher
education scenario in J&K that leaving aside a few universities, department
and colleges of Education that can be counted on finger tips, a large majority
of teacher education colleges are effectively run for less than three months a
year. Practice teaching is a ploy. Guides rules the scene, learning from text
books is unknown entity. As in all other
colleges, a large majority of faculty reproduce what they had learnt as students”
Under these circumstances, “there is an urgent need to make a detailed study of
state of art of teacher education curriculum and research on teacher education.”At present(2007), there are 146 B.Ed. colleges
in the state where except two, the rest are private colleges with intake
capacity of more than 44 thousand as against three colleges of education in the
year 1981 with intake capacity of less than three hundred. More than 70
colleges of education opened during 2001 and 2003. Most of these colleges have
hardly any infrastructure but got affiliation without any questions being
raised. Expansion of teacher education
could not match the quality in teacher education. Various programmes are as
follows.
1.
One Year Nursery Teacher Training by Social Welfare Department (Fee: Rs.8,
000);
2.
One Year Elementary Teacher Training for In-service Teachers by J&K Board
of Secondary Education;
3.
Two Year Elementary Teacher Training by J&K Board of Sec.Edn.
(Fee: Rs.32, 000);
4.
One Year B. Ed. by Universities (Fee: Rs.24, 100);
5.
Two Year B. Ed. (Distance Mode) (Fee: Rs.8, 600);
ELEMENTARY
TEACHER TRAINING
There
are 107 Elementary Teacher Training Institutions in Jammu Region and 60 in
Kashmir Region. More than 20,000 trainees are admitted annually to undergo for
Diploma in Elementary Teacher Training. 98% of the trainees are from adjoining
states of Punjab, Haryana,
Himachal and Rajasthan. Reason of low intake from the home state is that no weighatge is given to elementary trained teachers in
recruitment. Elementary Teacher training is of two year duration. There is
centralized system of admission under the exclusive control of J & K Board
of School of Education(BSE). Admission is strictly on
the basis of academic merits. Allotment
of trainees to various educational institutions is prerogative of BSE. Courses
of study comprise of theory and practice of teaching. There are four compulsory
and one optional subjects and five teaching subjects namely, Math, Science, any
two language and Social Studies in 1st year focusing of class I-V, and in 2nd year there are four compulsory and one optional
and three teaching subjects pertaining to class VI-VIII. In practice of
teaching there are 30 Mirco and 40 Macro lessons
which each trainee has to deliver. Academic Calendar is circulated by the Board
of School Education but not followed in letter and spirit by the BSE. Frequent
changes and cult of adhocism has given a lot of
controversy question marks to the functioning of the apex body. Of late, the
falling standard of teacher education in elementary teacher training
institutions has forced government to revise its policy for issuing ‘NOC’ to
these institutions . Therefore, Elementary Teacher Training Institutions have
been categorized into three categories namely, ’A’’B’ and ’C’, and the
following conditions have been laid down:
(i) They will record an attendance of 75% and above for the
students pursuing ETT course. In case of shortage such students would not be
eligible for the examination;
(ii)
The principals of DIET or his/her authorized HOD and District/Sub-Offices of
the J&K Board of School Education are empowered to
have surprise / periodic checks to monitor the attendance and teaching
practices of the students. However, the checking will be done by DIETs /J &K BSE on rotation basis to be directed by the
Board of School Education.
(iii)
The institutions will fulfill all the norms and standards as laid down in
Government Order No. 446-Edu of 2006 dated 21-9-06 read with Govt. Order
No.251-Edu. of 2007 dated 16-7-2007 prior to the start
of academic session Oct.-Nov. 2008;
(iv) That one trust will be permissible to run only one ETT in
the name of such trust
Course
Outline includes: Theory - Compulsory Papers:Philosophy of education; Sociology of education; Child development; Educational technology ; Physical &
Health Education;
Process of child’s learning;School Management;
Guidance & counseling; and Population education; Optional:Physical & health
education and Delivery
of Lessons Micro- 30 and Macro- 40
BACHELOR
OF EDUCATION COURSE
At
present, there are 146 B.Ed colleges in the state where except two, the rest
are private colleges. A total number of 44,241 candidates were enrolled in
private colleges which included 11,845 locals and 32,396 non-locals in the year
2007-08. Most of these colleges have hardly any infrastructure but got
affiliation without any questions being raised.
The Government however constituted a committee to examine the matter for
opening up of more colleges in the state after the matter was taken up in the
high court and a suitable criteria have not been fixed for setting up new colleges. Expansion of teacher education
could not match the quality in teacher education. There is a centralized system
of admission under overall control of University
of Jammu or Kashmir
as the case may be. Admission is strictly according to academic merit i.e.
marks obtained in graduation. Minimum 45% of marks in graduation are mandatory
for open category and 40% for reserved category for admission to B.Ed course.
6% is earmarked for management quota. Allotment of student to the institution
is done on the basis of preference given by the candidate and the intake
capacity of the respective institution. There are two Government colleges of
education, one each in Srinagar
and Jammu.
Admission to these colleges are made through common entrance test conducted by
the J & K Competent Authority and is meant for the state subject of
J&K. Duration of the B.Ed course is of one year both for Govt. as well as
for private educational institutions and following same pattern and courses of study
.B.Ed Courses of study comprise of four compulsory subjects, one optional and
two teaching subjects carrying 700 marks. 20% is earmarked for internal and 80%
is for external examination. Internal assessment is further subdivided into two
tests, one assignment and attendance each carrying 5marks. Academic Calendar is
issued by the University and followed in letter and spirit. 180 days working schedule
is mandatory for each institution imparting B.Ed. courses.Each
trainee is groomed in micro and macro skills in teaching and trainee has to
deliver 15 Micro and 20 Macro lessons in each teaching subjects. Internship of
two week is compulsory for each trainee. Practice of teaching carries 300
marks. Out of which 150 marks are earmarked for two external examiners for two
final lessons to be observed in two teaching subjects offered. Internal
practice of teaching carries 150 marks which are further subdivided.
Distribution of marks are: 15 Micro-Lessons (30 marks); Teaching Aids (10
marks); 20 Macro-Lessons (50 marks); Two Criticism Lesson (one in each teaching subject)(10 marks);
Observation of 20 lessons (10 marks); and Internship (30 marks).B.Ed
through distance mode is of two year duration. The courses of studies are same
as pursued by the regular students of University of Jammu/Kashmir. Course
Outline includes Theory:Education for Emerging Indian
Society;Psychology of teaching learning process; School Management & pedagogy of
Education; Development of educational system in India;One
Optional out of given 11 choice;Teaching Subjects:
Language, science, Mathematics, Social studies;Delivery
of Lessons Micro - 15 and Macro-20 and Optional- One Open Course.
INSERVICE
TEACHER TRAINING
SIE
Jammu covers districts of Doda, Jammu,
Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur. SIE Srinagar covers districts of Anatanag, Baramula, Budgam, Kupwara, Leh, & Kargil, Pulwama, and Srinagar.
In- service teacher preparation programmes in J&K are being run exclusively
for teachers working in government schools especially during vacation period.
These programmes include training in pedagogical act, subject knowledge and
basic computer skills. In-service education is expected not only to fill the
gap/deficiency of pre-service teacher preparation but it also aims at
continually updating and increasing the competencies of the teachers. When
these programmes are evaluated in terms of learning outcomes, situation is
deplorable in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. At state level. there are two State Institutes of Education (SIE).at Srinagar & Jammu. State Institute of Education Srinagar/Jammu coordinates training programmes of
their respective region. SIE conducts courses at elementary and secondary
levels; prepares personnel for DIETs; organize
training programmes for preparation of soft ware and use of educational
technology and as well prepare research workers. In the Plan Document of
J&K for the year 2007-2008 it is earmarked that: State Institute of
Education Srinagar will be upgraded into State
Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT).State Institute of Education
Jammu will be upgraded into State Institute of
Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT). Each District is provided with an
Institute of Education and Training (DIET) to cater
to in-service training need of the district. At present there are 14 DIETs and eight new District Institute of Education and
Training (DIET) will be opened in the newly created districts in the state
during the year 2007-2008. The DIETs are designed to
(a) improve and enrich the academic standard of elementary school teachers
especially in mathematics, science and language, (b) non-formal and adult
education functionaries and other personal at the lowest level of educational
system. The in-service programmes conducted by DIETs
and number of beneficiaries during last three years 2004-05 to 2006-07 are:
Total 10,530 :(a) Languages(Hindi, Punjabi, English, Urdu) 1420; (b)
Science1,310; (c) Mathematics 2,000; (d) Social Studies1,800; (e) Computer
Application 3,000; and (f) Others 1,000. As per Economic Survey of J & K
2006-07, during 2006-07, 9,876 teachers were appointed in the newly opened
schools; 5,563 teachers were appointed in the newly upgraded schools; 43,165
teachers received in-service training; and nearly 15,000 teachers were to be
recruited during 2007-08.
Most
of the teachers appointed were Post-graduate plus B.Ed. or Graduate+B.Ed.
No individual figured with ETT qualification. As per Digest of Statistics
(2006-07), P.338, the strength of trained teachers has increased from 39,702 in
the year 1990-91 to 61,910 in the year 2005-2006. The details are: male-36,114
and female-61,910. The numbers of trained teachers according to qualification
are: PG male-6,407; PG female-16,679; Graduate male-13,115; Graduate
female-7,069; Undergraduate male-7,516; and Undergraduate female -19,421. No
doubt the number of trained teachers has gone up but when compared with the
number of untrained trained teachers during the same period, the scenario is
quite dismal. The number of untrained teachers has gone up from 16,287 in the
year 1990-91 to 55,148 in the year 2005-2006. As per Digest of Statistics
2006-07, p309, there
were 55,148 untrained teachers:male 23,819 and female
31,329. The numbers of untrained teachers according to qualification are: PG
male 6,978; PG female 5,052; Graduate male 10,851; Graduate female 7,085;
Undergraduate male 8,855; Undergraduate
female 16,801. Nearly 47% teachers in primary schools, 40% in middle schools
and 35% in high and
higher secondary schools are found untrained in the year
2005-2006. Most of the untrained teachers are working in the government
schools. Therefore, the pass percentage in government schools could not cross
the limit of 35% in Matriculation and 10+2 stage during the last decade, while
the private educational institutions registered 75% pass percentage during the
same period.
CONCLUSION
*The
State of Jammu & Kashmir enjoys the special status under article 370 of the
Constitution of India and jurisdiction of the NCTE act has not been extended to
the state of J&K. This invites the attention of government of Jammu &
Kashmir to ratify the Act Passed by Parliament to enable NCTE to play its
significant role.
*Information
and Communication Technology (ICT), has not become a compulsory part of ETT,
B.Ed. (Pre-service) or in-service teacher training courses so far in Jammu & Kashmir. Most of the trainees are, therefore,
deprived of the opportunity to make use of ICT to enhance their teaching and
learning capacities.
*At
present duration of teacher education programme is one year. The main purpose
of teacher education programme is to develop values, skills, professional
attitude and personality which are not possible within a short duration of one
year. This makes the course more examination-oriented and not
profession-oriented. A little attention is paid to practice of teaching. Over
emphasis in theoretical subjects hardly gives any space to practice the learned
skills. When these trainees move in real context they are not able to perform
efficiently.
*Professional
preparations of teacher educators are not relevant and satisfactory to consider
them as teacher educators. M.Ed. degree of University of Jammu/Kashmir prepares
theoretical teacher educators. No experience in teaching is required while
seeking admission to M.Ed. course. Moreover, no practical training is there as
how to teach teacher trainees. There are nearly 146 colleges of education with
intake capacity of nearly 43000 teacher trainees, where students pursuing M.Ed.
can get practical training provided it becomes mandatory part of curriculum.
*Teacher
education has been conventional in its nature and content and therefore, it
does not adequately meet the requirement of the school as a result of which
teacher education is not able to deliver, what the school system demands. Most
of the time of the trainees is devoted to theoretical curriculum in the
classroom and they get little exposure to the practical aspects of teaching and
learning.
*Integrating
science with technology (i.e., observation, verification experimentation and
generalization), is to develop scientific temper. For developing scientific
temper, how much a teacher- trainee in the training college or in-service
teacher training, is being trained in making observation, in making
verification of the verbal facts, in experimenting with those facts and
generalizing about those facts. Action-research needs to be part of teacher
training, if we have to improve the quality of teacher education programme.
Education for learners with special needs is a very important component.
Therefore, teachers are to be trained to deal effectively to meet the needs of
inclusive education.
*In
J & K State, there are more than 148 colleges of education with more than
4200 intake of teacher trainees, what would be the fate of quality teacher
education if not properly monitored? Most of the colleges of education do not
fit on the criteria of transparency and accountability
*Effort
should be made to see that there is balance between manpower demand and supply
to maintain the reasonable standard in teacher education. Quality and quantity
should not be compromised with each other. In the competitive world, quality
has become buzzword. Quality demands sound infrastructure-physical, financial
and manpower. Teacher education programme/curriculum should be improved,
modified & updated so that it can meet the challenges of the day.
*Most
of the senior teacher educators consider posting in SIE/DIET as
punishment. They take little interest in
teaching and learning. Trainees on the other hand come for sake of attendance
and certificate. No effort has been made
to evaluate the impact of in-service training.
Moreover, these institutions are ill-equipped, lack finance, and
learning resources. In order to make
these institutions a center of excellence, need arises to equip these
institutes with adequate infrastructure and latest technology, and learning
resources. Teacher educators working in these institutions should be given
incentives for home library, lap-top and study tours. The best teacher
educators in these institutions should be picked up for state, national and
international awards.
*A
huge back-log of 40% untrained teachers is a cause of concern, which has
adversely affected the learning outcomes in all schools especially of
Government schools., SIE/DIET should
take up the challenge of training of teachers on priority basis in phased
manner. Sufficient financial support needs to be given to SIE/DIET so that no
teacher is left untrained within the stipulated period of five years.
REFERENCES
Education Department, J & K (2007) Digest of
Statistics (J&K). Govt.of J&K, Srinagar.
State
Institute of Education Jammu/Srinagar (2007-08)