TEACHER EDUCATION IN RAJASTHAN

 

A.K .Paliwal

Shima Sarupria

Daya Dave

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Archaeological and historical evidence shows a continuous human habitation of the area dating back 100,000 years. The present form of Rajasthan came into being after the Independence. The capital city is Jaipur. As per the 2001 census the    population is 56.47 million. As per the 2001 census, the literacy rate is 61.03 %.Rajasthan is located in the northwestern part of the subcontinent. It is bounded on the west and north-west by Pakistan, on the north and north-east by the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, on the east and south-east by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and on the south-west by the state of Gujarat.In the west, Rajasthan is relatively dry and infertile; this area includes some of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert. In the southwestern part of the state, the land is wetter, hilly, and more fertile. The climate varies throughout Rajasthan. Rajasthan has a single-chamber legislative assembly with 200 seats. The state sends 35 members to the Indian national parliament: 10 to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and 25 to the Lok Sabha (Lower House). Local government is based on 32 administrative districts. The principal language of the state is Rajasthani, comprising a group of Indo-Aryan dialects derived from Dingal, a tongue in which bards once sang of the glories of their masters. The four main dialects are Marwari (in Western Rajasthan), Jaipuri or Dhundhari (in the East and South-east), Malvi (Malwi; in the South-east), and, Mewati (in Alwar; which shades off into Braj Bhasa in Bharatpur district). The use of Rajasthani is declining with the spread of modern education, and its place is being taken by Hindi (the official state language of Rajasthan). However, Rajasthani deserves to be one of the constitutionally recognized languages of India. Rajasthan's economy is mainly agricultural; millet, wheat, maize (corn), and cotton are grown. Though parts of the state are extremely dry, and are covered by the Thar Desert, the total cultivable area in the state is 27,465 thousand hectares, and the sown area, 20,167 thousand hectares. Tourism is also an important part of the economy.

 

ELEMENTARY TEACHER EDUCATION       :

The elementary teacher education programme offers a two-year teacher education course called BSTC (Basic School Teaching Certificate) which DIETs and STC schools conduct under the Department of Elementary School Education. The curriculum of the STC course is designed and approved by the Department of Elementary Teacher Education in SIERT. The Department of Elementary Education of the State government under Director of Elementary Education made admissions to the BSTC course on merit basis till 2007-2008.But this year (2008-2009) admissions will be made through a pre - test to be conducted by a State university.. All the state approved and prescribed norms for admissions and reservations are followed by the STC institutes in the state. Monitoring and supervision of these institutions is done by the Department of Education through SIERT. The categories of institutes are: Govt. - 42 (12 + 30 DIETs); Private and Self financed -136;   and Pvt. NTT -22; Total - 200.

 

Teacher educators for the course have post graduate degree in the relevant school subjects along with M.Ed. Many of them have done STC themselves and have taught in elementary school for at least five years. AS per the new norms of the NCTE (January 2008), even teachers with MA and B.Ed are being recruited as school lecturers in STC institutes. The faculty members are called school- lecturers and are given salary as per the school lecturer- grade. Their basic pay presently is Rs.6500. The fee charged for the course is prescribed by the state govt and it is Rs.11, 250/- at present. There is no payment seat for the course.

 

The details of STC course are as follows:

Theory Papers - First Year: Principles of Education and Education in Modern India.; Educational Psychology; School Management and Organization; Education Technology; Teaching of Mother Tongue; Teaching of English; Teaching of Third Language; Teaching of Mathematics; Teaching of Environmental (Social, Physical & Biological)   Studies; Teaching of Physical and Health Education; Teaching of Art Education.

Theory Paper - Second Year: School Management & Educational Innovation; Teaching of Mother Tongue; Teaching of English; Teaching of Maths; Teaching of Social Science;

Teaching of Science; and Teaching of Work Experience.

Practice of Teaching; Each year 600 periods are meant for teaching practice and school experience which include Teaching Practice in (i) Basic Skills teaching (ii) Multi-grade Teaching, Observation of lessons, Block Teaching, Scouting Camp, and Teaching Learning Material Preparation.

 

Secondary Teacher Education:      

Teacher education colleges affiliated to respective universities conduct Secondary Teacher Education Programme. Admissions to the B.Ed. programme are made on the basis of a state level admission test called Pre Teacher Education Test (PTET) conducted by a state university under the directions of the state government.  In the year 2007-2008, Maharshi  Dayanand Sarswati (MDS) University, Ajmer, conducted the PTET.   All the state approved and prescribed norms for admissions and reservations are followed by the B.Ed institutes in the state. The fee prescribed for the course is Rs.22,400/-   as per the Rajasthan state Govt. Norms. There is no payment seat for the course. Up to the year 2004-05, there were around 52 B.Ed. Colleges in the State. There were  554 Secondary Teacher Education Colleges in Rajasthan till April 2008 approved and recognized by state universities, Department of Secondary Education, Government of Rajasthan and NCTE. Manahement wise, these institutions are: Govt. -2; Private and aided -3; and Self-financed- 549.

The examining bodies for secondary teacher education courses are 6 State Universities, one State Open University and four institutions deemed to be universities. University of Rajasthan offers only M.Ed. programme, through its Department of Education. The colleges affiliated to Rajasthan University offer B.Ed. programme. Some Universities have recently started M.A. (Education) Course. Besides this, B.Ed (Child Development) course is also conducted at a deemed to be university. There are five private Universities approved and established in the state in the year 2007-08.

 

Secondary teacher education in Rajasthan is controlled by the state Department of Secondary Education, the State Universities to which these B.Ed. colleges are affiliated and by the central apex bodies like the UGC and the NCTE. The B.Ed. colleges in the state follow the curriculum designed and approved by the state universities concerned.  Different universities follow different B.Ed. and M.Ed. syllabi. However, since 2002, these universities have been asked by the Chancellor/ Governor to follow a common syllabus prepared by a state university in consultation with all the universities concerned.

The faculty qualifications till December 2007 were PG along with M.Ed .As per the new norms of the NCTE (January 2008), even teachers with MA/ M.Com /M.Sc. and B.Ed are being recruited as lecturers in B.Ed colleges.

 

Unlike the other states in the country, all the B.Ed. Colleges (Secondary Teacher Education Institutes in the State) including government, non-government and aided B.Ed. colleges come under the Director of Secondary Education, not under the Director of Higher Education, in Rajasthan. The teaching staff members employed in these colleges do not get UGC Pay Scale as per the norms of UGC and NCTE. The staff members employed in the university department of education get UGC pay scale.  No in- service training programmes are conducted for the faculty of these colleges as there is no Academic Staff College for them.

 

THE B.ED COURSE 

There are two parts of the programme consisting of Theory and Practice components. The details are as given below.

(A)Theory Papers: Four Compulsory papers: I Education in the Emerging Indian Society;II Development of learner and learning process;.III Educational System in India and school organization; and .IV Essentials of Educational Technology and Classroom Management and  Teaching Subjects: Paper -V&VI (Two optional papers): Graduates in Arts, Science, and Commerce Streams are required to offer any two teaching subjects studied at Graduate level at least for two years for paper V and VI out of the following:

Teaching of Hindi ; English; Sanskrit/Urdu/Rajasthani; Mathematics; General Science; Social Science; Art Education; Commerce, etc.

Additional Optional Specialization papers (Paper VII): A candidate may opt anyone of the following papers : Educational and vocational guidance; Basic Education; Non-formal Education;

Physical Education; School Library organization; Audio-visual Education; Measurement and Evaluation; Moral Education; Education of the handicapped; Primary Education; Yoga Education; Population Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Television; Programmed Learning; Environmental Education; and Computer Literacy & Education Application.

Qualifying Compulsory paper :( Paper-VIII ) Computer Literacy and Educational Applications (CLEA)

Teaching Practice Programme:

Micro Teaching in 5 skills / EPS (Experiencing Pedagogical Skills) including Communication skills; 30 Macro Lessons

Internship : Minimum 3 lessons along with lesson plans per day for two weeks.; Group feedback and sharing of class room experiences; Understanding school system and nearly community; Eco-Education camp (Open Air Session) - A five day camp (An experience in Environmental Studies, Value education and working with community; Participation  in and organization  of  co-curricular activities (Literary, Cultural and Games) and Extension lectures. Assessment Procedure:For a pass in Theory a candidate is required to obtain at least - (a) 30% marks in each theory paper the (b) 36% marks in the aggregate of all the theory papers.
(ii) For a pass in Practice of Teaching a candidate is required to pass separately in the Internal & External Examinations and obtain at least 40 marks in each. Some universities also offer certificate, diploma and degree courses in Physical Education called C.P.Ed., B.P.Ed. and M.P.Ed.

Besides these colleges and institutions, there is a Regional Institute of Education (RIE) of NCERT, which conducts four year integrated B. Sc. B.Ed. course and one year M.Ed. programme
largely there is some uniformity in teacher education programmes .However, some universities exercise   their power o f academic freedom and autonomy and thus have introduced special activities in their programmes.  

 

M.ED.   PROGRAMME

Out of the eleven universities, ten universities (except Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University Kota) offer M.Ed programme in Education as per the norms of the NCTE and the universities concerned.  There are 17 institutions:Central Govt.(NCERT) -1; State Govt.-2. University Dept. -2; Self- financed – 9; and Private and aided -3. The candidates must have, after graduation, passed the B.Ed. /B.T. or L.T. examination degree from any recognized University as per norms laid down by the NCTE or any other examination accepted as equivalent by the University with 50% marks in Theory & Practical Examinations separately. There is a centralized scheme in force for the admissions of the M.Ed candidates. The fee for the M.Ed course is 22,400/- as per the state government norms.

The M.Ed.programme consists of theory papers, field based surveys and a dissertation. Part I : Compulsory Papers (Foundation Papers); I: Philosophical and Sociological Foundation of Education (100 Marks);II: Psychological foundations of Education and Educational Technology (100 Marks);III: Methodology of Educational Research and Data analysis (100 Marks);and IV: Essentials of Teacher Education and Comparative Education (100 Marks). In these papers candidates are evaluated by internal and external examiners. Each paper consists of 'sessional' work which carries 25 marks.

Part II : Areas of specialization (Optional Paper) :Each specialization area has two papers of 100 marks each. Out of the following a candidate has to opt for one specialization paper: Guidance and Counseling; Teacher Education; Educational  Measurement and Evaluation; Curriculum Development; and Management, Planning and Financing of Education.

Part III : Field based Experiences (Survey):They are related to supervision and evaluation of practice-teaching and other aspects of school experiences of B.Ed. programmes. This part carries 50 marks which is internally evaluated by a team of members constituted by the principal within the institution.
Part IV : A Dissertation: Dissertation is compulsory for candidates pursuing the M.Ed. Course. It carries 150 marks.



DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMME

As part of distance education programme, VM Open University, Kota conducts distance mode B.Ed course and M.A Education. IGNOU conducts B.Ed. programme through its Study Centres established at various places in the state.  IGNOU has recently started M.A in Education Programme. 

 

INSTITUTES OF ADVANCED STYDY IN EDUCATION & COLLEGES OF TEACHER EDUCATION

As part of qualitative improvement in teacher education programme under NPE 1986, MHRD upgraded 4 colleges of the state to IASEs and 8 colleges to CTEs. Out of the four IASEs, two were government IASEs and the remaining two were non-government IASEs till 2004. The state government changed the status of two privately managed IASEs to CTEs. Therefore, there are two IASEs and ten CTEs in the state at present.  In addition to pre-service programme, these IASEs and CTEs also conduct theme- based and content -based in-service programmes for secondary school teachers, headmasters, principals etc. with the financial support under the IASEs, CTEs scheme of the MHRD. 

 

CHALLENGES AND SUGGESTIONS

Over the past couple of years there has been a mushroom growth of secondary teacher education institutions in the state, which is not based on any empirical evidence for the need for such teachers’ training schools (STCs) and colleges in such a big way.  Teacher education in the state especially secondary teacher education is blocked by some impediments to quality secondary teacher education such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of qualified faculty and need for empowerment of newly recruited teacher educators, etc. The agencies concerned must take immediate effective measures to prevent rapid deterioration in teacher education.