STATUS OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN UTTARAKHAND

Sunita Godiyal

R.C. Nautiyal

INTRODUCTION

One of the three new born states of Indian Union, Uttarakhand (born on 09 November, 2000) a hilly state was formally a part of Uttar Pradesh. Its’ population is 84, 89,349 (Census 2001) and total literacy rate is 72.29% whereas male literacy is 84.01% and female literacy is 60.26%. The number of different level schools (Government aided) are:

No. of Primary Schools 13,795

No. of Junior High Schools 3,487

No. of High Schools 686

No. of Intermediate Schools 907

No. of special schools for handicapped 13

Besides these government aided schools, there are many public schools with an international reputation.

STATUS OF SECONDARY TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Three universities of the state two government and one private run education departments conducting secondary teacher education programme. The two state universities have M.Ed. programme too. Both state universities namely HNBG University and Kumaon University were established in 1973 in Garhwal and Kumaon regions with three campuses for Garhwal University at Tehri, Srinagar and Pauri and with two campuses for Kumaon University at Nainital and Almora. H.N.B. Garhwal University has 40 self financed B.Ed. Colleges. The number of self-financed B.Ed. colleges in Kumaon University is colleges is 11. The Kumaon University has established education faculty at Almora Campus whereas in the HNB Garhwal University education faculty is spread over two campuses at Tehri and Srinagar with a distance of 110 kms between them. Himgiri Nabh Univerity branch of Talim Research Foundation, Ahmadabad is the third university running B.Ed. programme established in 2003 at Dehradun. The H.N.B. Garhwal University plans to conduct B.Ed. self financed programme at its third campus at Pauri in the session 2008-09 charging a fee Rs.40, 000.00. Of late, the state government initiated a programme of running B.Ed. self financed programme in the current session in some 20 government colleges controlled by it in order to thwart the excesses committed by self financed private institutions on the students and teachers. The fee structure in the self financed colleges decided by the state government is Rs.40, 000.00 for government/state quota i.e. 50% of the total seats, Rs.50, 000.00 for self financed institution quota i.e. rest of the seats of which 15% sets will be N.R.I. seats with a fee of Rs.60, 000.00 for each seat. Teachers appointed under self-financed scheme in government B.Ed. college will be paid Rs.20, 000.00 each while the principal or head of the department will be drawing Rs.30, 000.00 fixed per month. The regular colleges of B.Ed. government and private have nominal fee structure and therefore, attract applicants securing higher merit in the test. All the three universities follow own entrance test. The state universities follow U.G.C. norms in the selection of teachers. The B.Ed. colleges being run under self-financed scheme recruit teachers as per the N.C.T.E. norms. It is obvious that the universities have highly qualified and experienced faculty being paid in accordance with U.G.C. guidelines. Well-trained teachers turnout from these universities most of whom get absorbed in government and private sectors. The teacher student ratio in these departments is 1:10 (now 1:15), but a unit of 100 seats is allotted to each institution. Each extra unit granted to an institution increases the number of B.Ed. students by a hundred. The overall intake in all these institutions viz. university departments, government colleges, private affiliated colleges and self financed institutions was about 6425 (825 in regular colleges and departments) and 5700 in self financed institutions (including 100 seats of Himgri Nab University) in session 2007-08. The number will go up to 8425 in the current session 2008-09. This number is inclusive of the proposed 18 B.Ed department in colleges and one university self financed department. The B.Ed. syllabus prescribed by the universities consists of the following two parts: A) Theory - 600 Marks & B) Practical Teaching - 200 Marks.The theory papers are (I) Teacher in Emerging Indian Society; (II) Development of Learner and Teaching Learning Process; (III) Development of Educational Systems in India; (IV) Essentials of Educational Technology and Management; (V) School Teaching Subject – I; and (VI) School Teaching Subject – II. These six papers are compulsory and each carries 100 marks. The paper II allots 80 marks for the written examination, 10 marks each assigned for internal assessment and for educational psychology practical, which include psychology tests and experiments. In case of each of the remaining five papers, 10 marks are assigned for internal assessment whereas 90 marks are assigned for final written examination of three hours at the end of the academic session. The evaluation of these papers is internal as well as external. In case of the 7^th paper, which is elective one , any one of the following courses would be chosen (i) Library science (ii) Physical education (iii) Environment education (iv) Guidance and counseling, (v) Population education, (vi) Elementary education (vii) Alternative education, (viii) Educational administration management, (ix) Education and mental measurement (x) Teaching of values. Each paper carries 100 marks. Practical or skill in teaching is also evaluated both internally and externally. The external examination is of 150 marks and 50 marks are meant for sessional works, which is distributed as (a) Hand work (b) Scouting and guiding (c) First aid (d) Co-curricular activities (e) Physical education. Minimum pass percentage in each paper in theory is 30% but in aggregate it is 36%. Division and marks in theory, in skill in teaching and in sessional works are calculated and shown separately in the marks card.

INGOU (Indra Gandhi National Open University) also offers B.Ed. course through distance mode. The INGOU regional office is located at Dehradun. The total number of the INGOU study centers in the state are 08, out of which 05 centres are in Garhwal region (Dehradun, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Kotdwara and Gopeshwar) and three other in Kumaon region (Pithoragarh, Almora and Haldwani). The INGOU organizes an entrance test for B.Ed. course in June or July of every year. INGOU B.Ed. course is meant for the untrained teachers with two years teaching experience and who are working in primary schools as teacher or as Shiksha Mitra and Shiksha Bandhu in remote areas of the state. The duration of the IGNOU B.Ed course is two years. One unit of B.Ed student comprises of 100 students who are given a contact programme of 13 days in the month of June every year. The main objective of the programme is to cover the backlog of a large number of untrained teachers working in primary and elementary schools of the state.

STATUS OF PRIMARY TEACHER EDUCATION PRORAMME

State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) was established in the state at Narendra Nagar a town of Tehri district in 2001. The SCERT, besides managing the teacher education conducted at 10 DIETs and three mini DIETs organizes from time to time short and medium term courses and training for teachers of primary education. The mini DIETs are run in the three districts of Rudraprayag, Champawat and Bageshwar where the number of teachers is less than 2000. The DIETs have been set-up to train field inspecting staff as well as teacher educator at the basic or primary level. The DIETs were set-up to strive for bringing excellence in the training of teachers and providing academic support and educational leadership for academic improvement through efficient in-service and pre-service teacher training conduction of education studies, surveys, development of modules in different subjects and development and transaction of teacher education curriculum suiting to children’s and local needs. The DIETs also organize special training course namely special B.T.C. or Visistha B.T.C. for those teachers who possess a B.Ed. degree but are working in primary or Basic Schools. The course duration is one year which is divided into two parts. The teacher trainees teach in schools and complete 40 lessons and other curricular activities under the supervision of Head of the School in the first six months. The teachers are required to complete their training in DIETs in the second six months. The teacher trainee gets a fixed salary Rs.8000.00 per month during the training period. Successful completion of training entitles them to full scale of pay and permanent teacher status at primary level. The State has there are 4 N.T.T. (Nursery Teachers Training) centers running and preparing teachers for nursery schools or K.G. sections of public schools.

The District institute of Education and training run B.T.C. regular and special (Vishistha B.T.C) B.T.C. Courses. In case of B.T.C. Regular, selection is made through entrance test by the state Education Department Graduates is eligible for training. Training tenure is 2 years out of which, 45 days are set or teaching practice and the rest for theory teaching. Age limit for females is 19-32 years; for males is19-27 years and male and female ratio is 50:50. In case of Visistha B.T.C. (Special B.T.C), candidates already having B.Ed., L.T., C. P. Ed. and B. P. Ed., are chosen year wise on the basic of the year of training .Training tenure is One year – Six months for theory and six months for teaching practice. Age limit is 19-40 year for both male and female candidates and male and female ratio is 70:30 or whatever is decided for female reservation. On the completion of B.T.C. training the trainees become eligible for appointment as a teacher in primary or elementary schools within the state. Since the year 1999 no entrance test has been organized by the state. So presently no regular B.T.C program of any sort has been taken up by the DIETs.The B.T.C. syllabus prescribed by the Education Department of the state consists of the following there parts: Part I : Theory papers. Total marks 325; Part II: Practice Teaching –Total marks 300; and Part III: Evaluation of Project work, curricular activities and activities related with each paper – 500 marks. The practical teaching is of 300 marks. The skill in teaching is also evaluated by the head master of the school where the practice teaching in doing besides the teacher educators from DIETs. The trainees have to prepare a total number of 50 lesson plans in all the categories of teaching. The syllabus for B.T.C. program includes many activities and project works carrying a total number of 500 marks. The head master’s report, school records and criticism books are also evaluated for the final assessment of the trainees. The projects work of the trainees is evaluated by the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Department of the DIETs. The DIETs have highly qualified and experienced teaching staff. Most of them possess a post graduation, M.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees. The teacher educators are appointed in the scale of pay of Rs. 6500-200-10500 in accordance with state Government’s guidelines.

NURSERY TEACHERS TRAINING PROGRAMME (N.T.T)

The course includes 5 compulsory theory papers related with early childhood and is of 100 marks each. Practice teaching requires minimum 25 lesson plans. Teaching practical examination has 200 marks. Division and marks in theory, in teaching skill and in sessional work and calculated and shown separately in the marks card.

SUGGESTIONS

Some suggestions for improvement in quality of teacher education in the state are given below:

1. Professional preparation of teacher educators and trainee teachers need to be made more relevant and effective.

2. For admission to M.Ed. degree of a university experience in teaching need to be considered as already been recommended by the Higher Education Commission and the Education Commission.

3. M. Phil degree course should be started for brininging excellence in the field of teacher education.

4. The government and university should develop some procedure of regular monitoring of the faculty positions in the self-financed and other regular institutions offering B.Ed. courses. So that the required numbers of eligible teachers is maintained by the institutions. It is a common acknowledge that students are fleeced by the self financed B.Ed. institution. It is urgently required to devise some ways to curb this menace.

5. B.Ed. being run in colleges and universities is maintained as one of the many subjects taught by them. The constraints of time, space and freedom required to run the course as per N.C.T.E. norms in these conditions compel the teacher training departments to adjust their programme with the time table, environment of and space provided by the institution leading to the production of half-backed teachers. B.Ed. training programmes in regular colleges need to be run as an independent course that the department and not other extraneous factors be held responsible for the quality of their teachers.