Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators

Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators
Volume I Issue 3 October 2012

Published by:
National Council for Teacher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development,
Government of India, New Delhi
Preparation of the publication at Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur.
Cover Design: Jaya Rathore
Layout Design: Preeti Misra and Rajesh Sen
Printed at: Choudhary Offset Pvt. Ltd., Udaipur
About the publication
The launch of the journal 'Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators' is an initiative of
the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to highlight the vital role of
teacher education in India, as the country is poised to provide quality education to all
its children, irrespective of gender, caste, creed, religion and geographies under the
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RtE), 2009. The large influx
of teachers necessitated under RtE represents the biggest opportunity to bring fresh
life into schools for decades to come. The challenge is to enhance the role of teachers in
shaping the social transformation India is witnessing, as well as have a long lasting
impact on the quality of education, also making it significantly more equitable. Teachers
and all those in the system need to recognize that their ownership and voices are
important and that they can and do learn not only from their own experiences but also
from each other through collective reflection and analysis. The publication attempts
to lend voice to teachers, their educators, researchers, administrators and policy makers
in the varied institutions: Schools, CRCs, BRCs, DIETs, IASEs, CTEs, SCERTs etc., and
make visible their engagement in accomplishing extraordinarily complex and diverse
tasks that they are expected to perform. Contributions are welcome both in English
and Hindi and there are plans to produce the journal in a multilingual format in the
near future.
Call for contributions
This publication is for all of us: teachers, teacher educators, administrators, researchers
and policy makers. It is to provide a platform and also to build a network for our
voices, ideas and reflections. Since the idea is to make this journal reflect all our
voices it would only fulfill its purpose, if we contribute to it in as many ways as we
can. We look forward to all of you contributing with your experiences, questions,
suggestions, perspectives as well as critical comments on different aspects of teacher
education and schooling. This could also be through comments and reflections on the
current issue. Your contribution could be in the form of articles, reports documents,
pictures, cartoons or any other forms of presentation that can be printed. We look
forward to your inputs to make this journal truly reflective of our voices. It is proposed
that this be a quarterly publication. We would like to receive contributions for the
next issue by 30
th
December, 2012. We also look forward to comments and suggestions
for improvements of the publication to make this a participative endeavor and improve
its quality.
Editorial Team
Dr. Janaki Rajan is Professor of Education at Jamia Millia Islamia. She was Director, State
Council of Educational Research and Training, Delhi from 2000-2006. She holds masters
degrees in English Literature, Psychology and Education. Her research, publications, teaching
and activist interests lie in the areas of gender, inclusive education, curriculum and cultural
studies, women and child rights.
Hriday Kant Dewan is Education Advisor, Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur, Rajasthan, He
has a Ph.D. in Physics from Delhi University. He is involved in strengthening SCERTs and
DIETs, textbook development, teacher and teacher educator training and research and
dissemination in education.
Editorial Assistants : Preeti Misra and Namrita Batra, Vidya Bhawan Education Resource
Center, Udaipur.
Chief Editorial Coordinator: Dr. Amarjit Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India.
Publication Coordinator: Mr. Vikram Sahay, Director, Department of School Education and
Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
Contributors
1. Namrita Batra, Vidya Bhawan Education Resource Center, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
2. Suzana Andrade Brinkmann, Education Consultant, UNICEF-India, New Delhi.
3. Sonika Chauhan, TISS, Mumbai.
4. Shahnaz D.K., Government Secondary School, District Udaipur, Rajasthan.
5. Varsha Hooja
6. Faruk S. Kazi, Zila Parishad Primary School, Block Sangola, Maharasthra.
7. Gopal Midha, TISS, Mumbai.
8. Preeti Misra, Vidya Bhawan Education Resource Center, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
9. Sonia Ann Mondal, TISS, Mumbai.
10. Saurav Shome, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai.
Illustrations and Photographs
1. Jaya Rathore
2. Prashant Soni
3. Teacher Education - Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Contents
Editorial
Special feature: International conference on teacher challenges for EFA in India - A
report
Opening session 2
1. Professional development of teachers 16
2. Decentralization - challenges and steps forward 22
3. Gender issues in the teaching force 27
4. Public private partnerships to address the teacher gap 33
5. Inclusive education: Teachers for children with special needs 39
6. Monitoring and evaluation of teacher policy reforms 46
Closing Session 52
Agenda 61
Regular features
Section I: From practitioners, researchers, policy makers
1. The whole community approach to inclusive education 66
Varsha Hooja
Section II: Teacher education: Reflection on issues, challenges, effective
practices
2. Concept Note: Designing a long-term teacher mentoring plan 69
Suzana Andrade Brinkmann
3. Shikshak Prashikshan 81
Shahnaz D.K.
Section III: Reports of conferences, seminars, workshops
4. Ninth E-9 Ministerial review meeting: Inclusive, relevant quality 83
Education for All
Teacher Education: Ministry of Human Resource Development
Section IV: Book review
5. Jeevan ki ikai - Koshika 86
Saurav Shome
Section V: Teachers' Contributions
6. Beshak seekh jaaoge 89
Faruk S. Kazi
Editorial
Teacher Development is a key area in improving school education. There is sufficient evidence to indicate
that the standard of education in any system depends on the extent of engagement, motivation and insight
of the teachers of the institutions. However, the experience across the world shows that there is no fixed
rule for progress in the direction of increased teacher participation. Aiming for universal education is an
enterprise that has socio-political as well as economic implications. It effects and is influenced by the
cultural fabric and is a part of the democratization process. The principle of Education for All (EFA) and
the effort to achieve it is an indication of the commitment towards this process. The EFA goals relate to six
areas that are crucial: early childhood care and education, primary education, youth and adult learning
needs, literacy, gender and quality in education.
The importance of education in building a just, humane and peaceful world is now recognized. In this
context, three International Meetings on Teachers for EFA were organized by the Ministry of Human
Resource Development, Government of India, the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA (TEFAS),
E-9 Secretariat and UNESCO from 28
th
to 31
st
May, 2012 in New Delhi, India. The concern at the moment is
the inability to move forward on the agenda at all levels of governance. This issue emerged at the conference
as a major impediment to human development. Also emerging as a factor was the inequitable development
of learning and distribution of the facilities available and the inability of the system to accommodate the
needs of the differently-abled persons.
The International Conference in Delhi on 29
th
and 30
th
May, which involved participants from many
nations, underlined the need for steps to improve the slow movement towards equal opportunities of
education for all. It focused on the challenges faced by teacher education in India and elsewhere in the
world. The fact that in many subtle ways, the dominant take control of the resources, in both school and
teacher education, and utilize them to a disproportionate extent is unfortunate and makes the situation
more grave. The discussions underlined deeply the realization that disadvantaged actually need a higher
share to be able to cope with the deficits that they have been forced to accommodate in their lives. The
conference reiterated that Teachers are a pre-condition to the achievement of all EFA goals and the key to bridging
both the qualitative and quantitative targets.
In the Indian context, the challenge of education of a larger community to the strengths of democracy and
the need to make everyone participate in the social fabric is getting more complex as disparity increases.
Economic success should benefit all sections of society and for it to be sustainable requires balanced,
overall development. That this can be achieved only through education has been recognized leading to the
goal of universal elementary education (UEE) and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a project that focuses on
teachers for improvement in quality of education.
The current issue of Voices has detailed Special feature focusing on the 4
th
International Policy Dialogue
Forum on Teacher Challenges for EFA in India. The International conference was divided into 6 sessions,
each of which tackled separate areas and issues related to them that are vital in informing policy decisions
on teacher education. The editorial team of Voices is grateful to the group of Rapporteurs - Gopal Midha,
Sonika Chauhan, Sonia Ann Mondal, Namrita Batra and Preeti Misra who contributed to the report that
forms the basis of the special feature. Certain regular features of Voices, omitted in this issue, will be
resumed from next time.
4th International Policy Dialogue Fourm
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4
th
International policy dialogue forum on teacher
challenges for Education for All in India
The global Education for All (EFA) agenda was first defined at the World Education Forum in 2000. It
set three quantifiable goals: Halving the number of illiterates, universal primary education and gender
equality. As teachers are the vital cog in achieving any goal related to education, it became essential to
focus efforts to achieve the goals on them. The recruitment, deployment, retention and training of
teachers assumed increased significance. This in turn, necessitated identification of teacher gaps and
challenges. The International Task Force for teachers for EFA was established for this purpose in 2009.
The First Policy Dialogue of the Task Force took place in February 2010, Ethiopia and was entitled
Teachers, the financial crisis and the EFA challenge of reaching the marginalized. The Second Policy Dialogue
Forum took place in July 2010, Jordan and looked at Providing teachers for EFA Quality matters. The
Third International Policy Dialogue forum took place in September 2011, Indonesia and discussed
Developing and Implementing Comprehensive National Policies for EFA: Teacher Quality and Equity.
In this series, the fourth International Policy Dialogue Forum took place on 29-30 May 2012, New
Delhi, India. It was unique in the sense that it concentrated solely on the teacher challenges of one
country - India. It focused on six key areas, identified during discussions between the Task Force
Secretariat and the Government of India. The areas were:
Continuing professional development for teachers in India;
Decentralization: Challenges and steps forward;
Gender issues in teacher force;
Public private partnerships to address the teacher gap;
Inclusive education for children with special needs;
Monitoring and evaluation;
The participants covered a wide range of stakeholders members of the Central and State governments
as well as individuals from non-government and civil society organizations, both national and
international. The Forum was inaugurated by the Honble Minister for Human Resource Development,
Shri Kapil Sibal, who during the course of his remarks, challenged all participants to come up with
new thinking for better policy and better practice. This challenge formed the core of the discussions
during the conference. The format of the forum involved presentations by a panel of experts followed
by open sessions for questions and answers for the participants. Individuals from other member
countries - numbering close to 45 - of the Task Force also got an opportunity to share their experiences
and opinions during the open sessions. A poster exhibition showcasing the work in the held of
education, of different organizations across India, attracted much attention and appreciation. The
final day saw the participants dividing into six working groups which deliberated over their respective
issues and came up with a series of suggested recommendations for the Task Force and Government
of India.
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Opening and welcome session
Mrs. Anshu Vaish
Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government
of India.
Honble Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal, Distinguished officials from
UNESCO and the International Teacher Task Force Secretariat, Distinguished experts, delegates, and
colleagues from the Government of India and State Governments, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am privileged to extend you a very warm welcome to India and to the 4
th
International Policy
Dialogue Forum on teacher challenges for EFA in India. This is the first time that an International
Policy Dialogue Forum is being dedicated to a particular country on a specific issue. We are indeed
grateful to the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA for recognizing the significance of this
issue and giving India the opportunity to host this and two other events closely linked to this Forum.
That most of our distinguished experts and delegates have travelled long distances to be here
demonstrates just how important the role of teachers is for achieving the global goals of Education for
All. We are grateful for your presence and look forward to two days of rich deliberations.
India is fortunate to host these three international events at this crucial juncture for school education
in India. Our Right to Education Act is now two years old, access to elementary education is a more or
less fulfilled agenda, and quality is currently the major challenge we face. The agenda of quality is
impossible to fulfill without enough well-trained, quality teachers. In the wake of our Right to Education
Act, India has taken several steps to enhance and improve
teacher numbers and standards. Since the focus is on
India, our reform measures related to teacher issues will
undoubtedly be shared with you during the course of
this Forum. We are confident that the outcomes of this
Forum will help us refine and carry our reform process
forward.
Our Chief Guest this morning is the Honble Minister
for HRD Shri Kapil Sibal, who has succeeded in bringing
the RTE within the reach of millions of Indias children.
Without his guidance and support, we would not have
been able to put together this very important series of
international events. I warmly welcome him to the Forum.
I welcome His Excellency, Mr. Cravinho, Ambassador
and Head of Delegation of the European Union to India,
and Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi, Regional Director, UNESCO.
Both have kindly consented to grace the occasion and share their valuable experiences with us.
I also take this opportunity to thank UNESCO and UNICEF for their help and support in organizing
this Forum.
I welcome all my colleagues, particularly Shri Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education and Prof. R.
Govinda, Vice Chancellor, NUEPA. I also extend a warm welcome to Dr. Kishore Singh, UN Special
Rapporteur on Right to Education. With their expertise in the field of education, we look forward to
their insightful contributions.
O OO OOur Right to Education Act ur Right to Education Act ur Right to Education Act ur Right to Education Act ur Right to Education Act
is now two years old, access to is now two years old, access to is now two years old, access to is now two years old, access to is now two years old, access to
elementary education is a elementary education is a elementary education is a elementary education is a elementary education is a
more or less fulfilled agenda, more or less fulfilled agenda, more or less fulfilled agenda, more or less fulfilled agenda, more or less fulfilled agenda,
and quality is currently the and quality is currently the and quality is currently the and quality is currently the and quality is currently the
major challenge we face. The major challenge we face. The major challenge we face. The major challenge we face. The major challenge we face. The
agenda of quality is agenda of quality is agenda of quality is agenda of quality is agenda of quality is
impossible to fulfill without impossible to fulfill without impossible to fulfill without impossible to fulfill without impossible to fulfill without
enough well-trained, quality enough well-trained, quality enough well-trained, quality enough well-trained, quality enough well-trained, quality
teachers. teachers. teachers. teachers. teachers.
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I specially welcome and thank my colleague, Dr. Amarjit Singh, Joint Secretary, School Education. He
and his team have worked extremely hard to organize this entire series of international events.
I warmly welcome Mr. David Atchoarena, Director, Division of Teacher and Higher Education in
UNESCO and all my valued colleagues from the Ministry and State Governments as well as
distinguished representatives from governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental
organizations from across the world. We are all here today as part of our common endeavour to make
Education for All a global reality, and I am especially happy to note the response the Forum has
received from our State Governments.
You may know that we have set up an exhibition showcasing contemporary approaches to teacher
education in India. I hope you will have a chance to see it. I also hope that the exhibits will serve to
trigger ideas that will in turn enrich the deliberations of the International Policy Dialogue Forum. I
once again welcome you to India and to these international events. I hope you will have a comfortable
and pleasant stay in New Delhi.
Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi
Director and UNESCO Representative to India, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri-Lanka
Hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Kapil Sibal, the Ambassador and Head of
delegation, Mr Joo Cravinho, Mrs. Anshu Vaish, Secretary, School Education and Literacy, Professor
Govinda, my former colleague Kishore Singh and Mr. Amarjit Singh, Joint Secretary; my colleague
from Paris, David and my colleague from New Delhi office and dear participants. Well today I have
the message from the UNESCO Director General Mrs. (Madame) Bokova, to this very important forum.
Ill read her message first and then Ill speak a little bit on my behalf.
Special message from Ms. Irina Bokova (as read out by Mr. Aoyagi)
UNESCO Director General
His Excellency Mr. Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development and Communications and
Information Technology, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
As UNESCO Director-General, it is an honour to address this 4
th
Policy Dialogue Forum of the
International Taskforce on Teachers for EFA on the importance of teachers for reaching the Millennium
Development of Goals and Education for all. This Forum meets in the right place and at the right time
- in New Delhi, in between the Steering Committee and the General Assembly meetings of the
International Task Force on Teachers for EFA held yesterday, and the preparatory meeting to take
place the day after tomorrow, which is dedicated to teacher development for inclusive relevant quality
education.
This is an illustration of the synergies we need to build in global and national efforts as we strive to
close the teacher gaps for achieving the EFA goals. I am convinced each of these meetings will strengthen
the momentum we need to reach our education goals.
I wish to express deep gratitude to the Government of India for hosting this event. I welcome the efforts
of the government to champion the cause of quality education for all. Under the leadership of His
Excellency Minister Kapil Sibal, this country is experiencing tangible progress - by mobilizing resources
and by promoting the use of information and communication technologies in education.
I wish to thank His Excellency for the dynamic role India plays in the International Task Force for EFA
and other UNESCO-related EFA initiatives. This Policy Forum provides an excellent platform for
sharing knowledge and information to promote North-South and South-South cooperation. This is an
opportunity for ideas to cross-fertilize on teacher-related issues and to generate discussions on research
and innovation in the field. The E-9 meeting will set the stage for the Ministerial Review Meeting later
this year, when India assumes the chair of E-9.
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This important occasion marks also a moment when the deliberations on inclusive, relevant quality
education will receive the attention it requires. Teachers are architects for a better world, essential for
laying the moral and intellectual foundations of knowledge societies. They are cornerstones for the
Education for All campaign. These ideas underpin the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA,
whose Secretariat UNESCO hosts.
Since the 2008 EFA High Level Group meeting in Oslo, this voluntary global partnership initiative has
gone from strength to strength. I am grateful that the early donors - Norway, the European Commission,
France, Germany and Indonesia - have maintained their support. I know that the membership of
countries as well as international non-governmental
organizations and foundations has increased, and I am
hopeful for new contributions in kind and in financial
resources to help this initiative meet all of its promises.
Our case is strong and we must not tire of making it across
the world. The teacher deficit must be addressed for
education for all to become a reality in all countries, for
all learners - young and adult, men and women, rural
and urban, from rich or disadvantaged backgrounds. This
is why UNESCO has made teachers the priority of
priorities in education. We are working with teachers, to
enhance quality and equity in education and to build
capacity in countries that need it most. In all of this, we
will continue to work closely with the Task Force and its
partnership network.
I wish to thank you all once again for your commitment to reaching the goals we share. Your experiences
and ideas are vital for reaching the EFA goals and for charting the way beyond this milestone. I wish
you fruitful and productive discussions.
Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi
I thank you for your attention and let me share with you a little bit of my thoughts in this very
important forum. As the Director General said, India has been enjoying great achievement in the
education sector. Now the enrollment ratio, the school enrollment ratio, is 97 percent and official data
touched 74 percent. This great achievement has started from the launch of the Right to Education Act
which was established in 2009. I really admire the great effort of the Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal, for
supporting the people throughout the country to get access quality of education. Nonetheless, there
are some challenges, of course.
If we look at the great progress of India there is some kind of the challenges behind - that is the quality
of education. If we look at the statistics a little bit - only 69 percent of enrolled children will go up to
grade 5. As a consequence, 8.2 million students are out of school. Mainly as it follows, of course, of the
socio-economic background of the learners and their families but at the same time we can identify that
the quality of education is not enough to attract and retain these learners to sustain until their
completion. The UNESCO-Bangkok organized a very interesting meeting earlier this month to reflect
on the EFA, the current status of EFA and also the deliberations made on the education issue beyond
2015. Quality of education, ICT and many other issues are discussed and one of the most important
topics was, of course, that how we can produce qualified quality teachers to improve the quality of
education
I believe that the participants, the delegation from the 45 countries will reflect on how we can cope
with the great, rapidly changing needs and the diverse needs of the learners - which can be addressed
by the qualified teacher. Nowadays, we have a lot of children who are under the so called digital
native generation. In the classroom, there are a lot of the new gadgets computers, ICT is coming to
the classroom: But what about the teachers? Are they really ready for these changes? And these are the
T TT TTeachers are architects for eachers are architects for eachers are architects for eachers are architects for eachers are architects for
a better world, essential for a better world, essential for a better world, essential for a better world, essential for a better world, essential for
laying the moral and laying the moral and laying the moral and laying the moral and laying the moral and
intellectual foundations of intellectual foundations of intellectual foundations of intellectual foundations of intellectual foundations of
knowledge societies. They knowledge societies. They knowledge societies. They knowledge societies. They knowledge societies. They
are cornerstones for the are cornerstones for the are cornerstones for the are cornerstones for the are cornerstones for the
Education for All Education for All Education for All Education for All Education for All
campai gn. campai gn. campai gn. campai gn. campai gn.
5
main concerns of mine and India. And I reflect, and I really encourage you to reflect, on this quality of
teachers, how they can cope with the new changes and challenges in this very important forum. With
this I conclude my speech. Thank you so much for your attention.
Mr. Joo Cravinho
Ambassdor and Head of Delegation (Delegation of the European Union to India)
Honble Minister, Shri Kapil Sibal, Professor Govinda, Vice-Chancellor of the National University for
Education Planning and Administration, Mr Shigeru Aoyagi, UNESCO, Secretary Anshu Vaish,
Distinguished panellists and participants, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am delighted to be here at the Opening Session of this International Policy Dialogue Forum. Nothing
is more important than Education; from the perspective of the EU, education is fundamental to Europes
conception of human rights and democracy and a core foundation of the EUs strategy for growth and
jobs. Moreover, the EU acknowledges that education is the cornerstone for all development in any part
of the world.
In India, the goal of comprehensive education has received a major boost with the implementation of
the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), and I would like to recognize the enormous
ambition which this initiative represents, and to say that we acknowledge this with respect.
The European Union has been cooperating with India in the area of education in a growing fashion
since the early nineties when India decided to make a decisive move to eradicate illiteracy. Since then,
the EU has been a partner of the central governments flagship program, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),
for more than 10 years. The EUs support is based on the conviction that Indias own efforts to bring
about progress in inclusive and quality Elementary Education should be supported through a strong
partnership.
A few years later, in 2008, the EU-India Declaration on Education established a sector policy dialogue
to promote cooperation across the educational spectrum through various education programs from
the Elementary level with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to the Tertiary level with Erasmus Mundus. The
latest example of this very rich cooperation was the official launch just last week, of the EU-India Skills
Development Project. This is an area in which we have developed considerable expertise over the years,
and we are now investing just over 6 million euros, or 42 crore rupees, over the next few years in order
to create mechanisms for sharing that expertise.
In India, progress is happening and it is impressive. There have been significant advances in elementary
education, contributing towards meeting the education-related Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). Furthermore, progress achieved by the Government of India and States towards the full
accomplishment of the Right to Education Act is encouraging.
But as while, the more that is achieved the more that is possible in the future. The SSA is on track to
achieve its development objectives, but the agenda to ensure that all children complete a quality
Elementary Education remains work in progress. And in this context, teachers are the key to link both
the qualitative and quantitative targets related to inclusive education.
The recruitment, deployment, training and retention of teachers have been identified as crucial factors
in the success of SSA. With the growing emphasis on quality education, the implementation of the
Right to Education Act and the Universalization of Secondary Education (Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha
Abhiyan - RMSA), the need to address a wide range of teacher-related issues has been identified as a
pressing priority.
In our view, we very much believe in cooperating in the field of elementary education with specific
attention to address teachers challenges. This responds to several distinct goals for us, such as
enhancing inclusive relevant quality education; modernizing education; and improving the quality of
teacher education through the exchange of information and good practices.
The ongoing EU Technical Cooperation components are contributing to achieving these goals, notably
through international conferences and study visits by central and state level government officials.
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One example is EU support for the International Conference on teacher education through ICT and distance
education that will take place in Bihar in June this year.
Based on our successful past experience, the EU remains strongly committed to supporting the priorities
of the Government of India - to reduce poverty and strengthen quality education. In this context, I do
believe that the forthcoming new education Sector Budget Support (Education Sector Policy Support
Program - 2012 to 2016) encompassing elementary and secondary education, to be launched this year,
will further enhance education as well as teacher effectiveness, promoting quality and equity for all
the children.
Times are changing though, and we try to change with the times. In particular, our cooperation with
India is evolving and we are moving from a classical donor-recipient relationship to a partnership of
equals. In this context, I am happy to say that India will be one of the countries with whom we shall be
working with the New Partnership Instrument and other innovative cooperation modalities as of
2014-2020.
The scope of cooperation between the European Union and India in education is enormous, and on
our side we are enthusiastic and committed to it. I want to extend my best wishes for this Policy
Dialogue Forum, and to say that I hope that it builds upon the excellent work done so far, and that it
opens up new vistas for all of us who are committed to the vitally important issues of making Education
for All a reality around the world.
Dr. Kishore Singh
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Honble Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India; Ambassador, Mr. Joo
Cravinho, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to India; Secretary, Department of School
Education and Literacy, Mrs. Anshu Vaish; Secretary,
Department of Higher Education, Mr. Ashok Thakur;
Vice Chancellor, National University of Educational
Planning and Administration, Professor Govinda,
UNESCO representative, Mr. Aoyagi, distinguished
participants, Ladies and Gentlemen. I consider it an
honor to participate in this fourth International Policy
Dialogue Forum: Teacher Challenges for EFA in India.
And I would like to express my appreciation and thanks for being given the opportunity to share my
experience in the field of Right to Education, in relation to the theme.
This Policy Dialogue is most opportune in the context of permanent challenges of responding to
quality imperatives and may I congratulate heartily, Government of India for taking, in cooperation
with UNESCO, this very important initiative. The persisting gaps between commitment and reality in
advancing the right to quality basic education for all, is well known. The dearth of qualified and
trained teachers is an impediment in moving the EFA agenda further and accelerating progress towards
the Millennium Development Goals on education. Shortage of qualified teachers, which has assumed
alarming proportions, makes it incumbent upon public authorities to take bold measures. Innovative
programs for revamping teacher education and development, such as in case of India, are highly
significant in the context of the work of the International Task Force on teachers for EFA. The challenges
are daunting, not only to ensure that qualified teachers are deployed but also to devise new modalities
of teacher training in tandem with reforms in the world of education.
A number of countries today are modernizing their legislation and policies in the field of right to
education. And Indias example has been mentioned which is a glowing example cited in many parts
of the world and the system of United Nations. Today, however, the teaching profession is not attractive
enough, it is often least sought after. And it does not enjoy the kind of social esteem commensurate
with the noble cause which it serves. Therefore, valourizing teaching profession, with due regard to it
.....valourizing teaching .....valourizing teaching .....valourizing teaching .....valourizing teaching .....valourizing teaching
profession, with due regard profession, with due regard profession, with due regard profession, with due regard profession, with due regard
to it as a form of highly to it as a form of highly to it as a form of highly to it as a form of highly to it as a form of highly
valuable public service, is valuable public service, is valuable public service, is valuable public service, is valuable public service, is
of utmost importance. of utmost importance. of utmost importance. of utmost importance. of utmost importance.
7
as a form of highly valuable public service, is of utmost importance. In this respect the national level
normative framework can provide a firm basis for action and for programmatic initiative. UNESCO
recommendations on the, concerning the, status of teachers was adopted in 1966 and provides
foundation for this. The recommendations which applies, and I would like to underline this, to all
teachers in public and private schools also gives us the framework and guidance on a wide range of
matters such as teachers status, their roles, responsibilities, career advancements, security of tenure
and conditions of service.
Allow me, also, to underline the importance of the work of the United Nations Human Rights treaty
bodies. For instance, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations committee on
economics, social and cultural rights, have expressed concern about under-resourcing of schools,
class sizes and teacher pupil ratios and the level of untrained teachers and their impact, adverse
impact, on quality of education received. Therefore, in line with the recommendations, which I
mentioned, and work of the United Nations treaties, the countries should ensure conformity with
minimum standards in education. In this respect, let me once again mention the importance of evolving
norms and standards on quality in India in the context, in the process, of implementation of the Right
of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009. One of the basic norms in that Act, which
I quoted in my report to Human Rights Council extensively, is teacher-student ratio and another
dimension is the deployment of not only well qualified teachers but of trained teachers in schools as
a matter of norm if we want to advance EFA agenda.
Some countries have also adopted code of conducts and guidelines for teachers and such instruments
are useful in handling matters such as prohibition of corporal punishment, ban on private tuitions or
teacher absenteeism - which are also widely prevalent phenomenon. I would like, in this respect, to
mention the guidelines on elimination of corporal punishment, developed by Indias National
Commission for Protection of the Childs Rights.
Quality education hinges on pedagogical capacities of teachers and the dynamics of the learning
process. Teacher training should therefore place high emphasis on pedagogical skills and subject
mastery. The quality of education requires new pedagogical approaches which are child friendly,
inspiring and motivating. Teachers should be able to develop in children, love of learning. They
should also be able to kindle in children, and in adults, critical thinking as well as nurture in them
ethical and moral values. Improving quality of teaching and learning, at the basic education levels,
therefore necessitates child friendly education systems in which, and I would like to emphasize this,
the rights-based approach is all pervasive. This requires paradigm change. Teachers are the mainstay
of the four pillars of education which are so well known and I repeat, learning to know, learning to be,
learning to live together and learning of the international values of mutual understanding, which are
of perennial importance. I have no doubt that this Policy Dialogue will result in a comprehensive
policy response to teacher challenges and the deliberations which sharpen our focus on hosting
normative action at national level, so much needed to make the right to quality education, a reality for
all. A right which is essential for the exercise of all other human rights and which must be kept in the
forefront in the concerns and actions of global partnerships so that children, adults and youth can
aspire for a promising future. Thank You.
Professor R. Govinda
Vice Chancellor, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA)
Overview of teacher education scenario in India
Honble Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal ji, his Excellency, distinguished
delegates from various parts of the world, distinguished international and national delegates, my
colleagues from the teacher education community. It is indeed a privilege for me to speak to this
distinguished gathering from different parts of the world and in particular in the august presence of
many international delegates. I am grateful to the organizers for giving me this opportunity.
It was precisely 22 years ago that the world community recognized education as a basic need of every
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individual and the world community pledged to
provide basic education for all, within a period of
10 years. As we approached year 2000, we
recognized that the pledge was quite a large task,
not easy to achieve. And we reiterated, the global
community reiterated, the pledge in 2000, in Dakar.
Now we are approaching the deadline of 2015 set
by the world community. If we draw the balance
sheet it may indicate that there are still large gaps
in many parts of the world, including India. But I
would say here, closer scrutiny of the road that we
have traversed would show that the change and
progress is quite perceptible. For instance, India
has registered, undoubtedly, huge progress in the
last two decades. A very important milestone is the
adoption of the Rights perspective no more rhetoric but as a vision of the country, as enshrined in the
constitution today, as a fundamental right - and the legislation ensuing from that. Indeed it has been
a landmark progress in this direction.
I would say that it is not just about adoption of the Right to Education Act. Even if we take stock of the
progress made otherwise, we can see that the change is visible, measurable, across the world and in
India.
20 years ago, one of the major concerns of the international community was the question of demand.
We were asking ourselves, why children not come to schools even when schools have been opened.
Today we can safely say that demand for education is not an issue, in fact the demand for schooling
is overwhelming across the world and in particular in India. The number of schools that have been
opened in this period is phenomenal. Enrollment increase has been unprecedented, not just in India
elsewhere in the world also. The gender gaps may have persisted but they have begun to decrease, at
least in terms of numbers. Even while we recognize that there are gaps there is no need for pessimism.
Because correcting long historical legacies of inequality of access to education is a long haul battle. It
is the path that we take for sustainable transformation of the system that is more important than the
quick results that we register which may not be sustained over a longer period of time.
At the same time, we are all conscious that the task of providing education for all is not over. But as we
approach 2015, we are entering a new phase; we are looking beyond numbers today, we are looking at
the core issues of quality and learning outcomes. This is also because we recognize that even while
children are enrolled, even while they attend the school, many remain silently excluded. They are
excluded because they complete schooling with no visible benefits from the school which they have
attended for several years. This, I think, is the central question that we need to address in the years to
come.
While the debate on quality has attracted attention widely,
we are also recognizing that we need to pin down the
essential issues underlying the broad issue of quality.
Analysis of results all over the world, and in particular
the findings of the successive global monitoring reports,
very clearly show that the central focus of the debate has
to be teachers and teacher related issues. It is the teachers
who hold the key for ensuring quality education for all.
But if we take quick stock of the assessment that has been
made at the international level, today the world is facing
a serious crisis with respect to teachers. Problems related
to teachers are multi-fold. One is the supply of qualified
teachers in India alone the teacher shortage is estimated
B BB BBecause correcting historical ecause correcting historical ecause correcting historical ecause correcting historical ecause correcting historical
legacies of inequality of access to legacies of inequality of access to legacies of inequality of access to legacies of inequality of access to legacies of inequality of access to
education is a long haul battle. education is a long haul battle. education is a long haul battle. education is a long haul battle. education is a long haul battle.
It is the path that we take for It is the path that we take for It is the path that we take for It is the path that we take for It is the path that we take for
sustainable transformation of sustainable transformation of sustainable transformation of sustainable transformation of sustainable transformation of
the system that is more the system that is more the system that is more the system that is more the system that is more
important than the quick results important than the quick results important than the quick results important than the quick results important than the quick results
that we register which may not that we register which may not that we register which may not that we register which may not that we register which may not
be sustained over a longer be sustained over a longer be sustained over a longer be sustained over a longer be sustained over a longer
period of time. period of time. period of time. period of time. period of time.
.....even while children are .....even while children are .....even while children are .....even while children are .....even while children are
enrolled, even while they enrolled, even while they enrolled, even while they enrolled, even while they enrolled, even while they
attend the school, many attend the school, many attend the school, many attend the school, many attend the school, many
remain silently excluded. remain silently excluded. remain silently excluded. remain silently excluded. remain silently excluded.
They are excluded because They are excluded because They are excluded because They are excluded because They are excluded because
they complete schooling with they complete schooling with they complete schooling with they complete schooling with they complete schooling with
no visible benefits from the no visible benefits from the no visible benefits from the no visible benefits from the no visible benefits from the
school which they have school which they have school which they have school which they have school which they have
attended for several years. attended for several years. attended for several years. attended for several years. attended for several years.
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to be more than a million. The world over, if we look at the requirement of teachers, it is really mind
boggling. An important question on which we need to introspect is why we are unable to attract
talented and well qualified youth to teaching profession. It is difficult to answer this is not a problem
only India is facing but perhaps many other countries are also. But in India, with its vast diversity, it
is even more challenging. At the same time, a phenomenon that seems to have attracted the attention
of the world community, in particular the teacher education community, is the gradual undermining
of teaching profession through the appointment of under-qualified, underpaid teachers - essentially
as contingency measures - in the form of para-teachers, community teachers, contract teachers and so
on. Probably they are contingency measures but I think as a teacher education community this calls for
serious introspection as to its impact on the overall growth of
the teaching profession. But no less serious is the quality of
people who are entering the teaching profession with full
qualification. In India, the recent teacher eligibility tests, which
have been made mandatory by the Right to Education Act,
have shown large knowledge gaps among teachers in their
domain knowledge, in their subject knowledge. This of course,
speaks of the overall poor quality of learning that is taking
place in schools and colleges of the country. But can teacher education programs remain untouched
by this issue of quality of people entering the teaching force. In fact, it points to the need for renewing
our curriculum, revising the curriculum, integrating subject knowledge improvement as an integral
part of the teacher training strategy; not to focus merely on generic pedagogic techniques. Therefore,
the big concern is of teacher education revamping; or in other words, the pedagogic preparation of
those who aspire to enter the profession, their subject mastery and their professional development
thereafter.
While this is a common problem faced by many countries, the Indian situation is characterized by
several issues and challenges. I would like to focus on three or four of them.
One issue that is particularly bothering the teacher education community is that the teacher education
at the elementary stage has remained more or less frozen for too long at the bottom of the hierarchy
among educational institutions. By being at the bottom of the hierarchy, in fact, the elementary teacher
education suffers in my view double alienation. On the one hand, this keeps it away from the seats of
higher learning much of the elementary teacher education is managed by secondary education
boards in most of the states. As a result the teacher educators in these institutions are deprived of the
opportunity to be involved in the process of knowledge generation. On the other hand, if we closely
look at the teacher education curriculum that is being followed, it is largely diverged from the reality
of the school system. Much of the focus is on imparting generic knowledge and skills and not
contextualized to the changing reality of the field. We do hope that the new National Curriculum
Framework for Teacher Education which has been formulated by the NCTE will be able to help
address many of these challenges.
Next question is what happens to teachers once they enter the profession, what happens to their
continuous professional development and what kind of opportunities do they have. We should admit
here that the investment in in-service training has considerably increased, significantly increased, in
recent years - not just in India but elsewhere in the world also, in-service teacher training has attracted
tremendous attention. But are we doing adequate, is a question that we need to ask ourselves. Will
short capsules or modules, under the banner of training, being given year after year, will it really
suffice to meet the professional development needs of the teachers. What are we doing with the crafts
knowledge that the teachers acquire as they work in the schools. Where is the place for this crafts
knowledge? Can in-service education be provided purely through external resource persons often
through packaged modules that are transacted? The question that we need to address is how do we
contextualize in-service education and make it more linked to the conditions in which the teachers are
working. This is indeed a big challenge for the teacher education community of the country.
B BB BBut can teacher education ut can teacher education ut can teacher education ut can teacher education ut can teacher education
programs remain programs remain programs remain programs remain programs remain
untouched by this issue of untouched by this issue of untouched by this issue of untouched by this issue of untouched by this issue of
quality of people entering quality of people entering quality of people entering quality of people entering quality of people entering
the teaching force? the teaching force? the teaching force? the teaching force? the teaching force?
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Another issue that we need to examine is that continuous
professional development is not linked to the professional
and career growth of teachers in the system. Why should
teachers really come for in-service education, is a regular
question that is asked by many teachers. Within a system,
if the teachers undergo in-service education there seems
to be no value addition that is coming to their life. This is
because in-service education is neither essential nor is it
being rewarded. Addressing this issue is more ticklish. It will take us to another very important area,
namely that of assessing teacher performance based on appropriate standard-setting instruments. I
think this is an area in which we have done practically little in this country and its an area in which
we need to embark on, in the years to come.
I would agree that there are no ready answers to many of these critical issues that teacher education is
facing. But in order to address many of them, in order to improve in-service teacher education, in order
to improve the pre-service teacher education, we require much larger public investment. I underline
public investment because around 85 percent of the teacher education institutions in this country are
private, self-financing institutions. This raises the question of do we have the institutions which have
the capability to set standards for curriculum, teaching and evaluation in teacher education. Can the
current level of public engagement with the system adequate to influence the system, as a whole and
change the direction of performance of the system. I think this is a serious issue on which we need to
reflect in much deeper sense.
Lastly, I would like to say that it is time that the teacher educator community engages in serious
introspection for themselves. Till now, the teacher education community has often pointed fingers at
the systemic inefficiencies, systemic deficiencies, as the reason. I think we all agree that the teacher
education can shine only in the reflected glory of a good school system. If the school system is under
the cloud, teacher education cannot be great. This indeed is the situation in which teacher education
in India is placed. The challenge to teacher education system lies here. In order to maintain our
credibility, we cannot remain mute spectators or merely reactive. Rather we have to lead from the front
in transforming the school system. Teacher education community has to engage in more serious
innovative designs in terms of pedagogy, in terms of teaching and in terms of generating empirical
knowledge that have the capability to transform the school system. There lies the answer if the teacher
education has to regain its vitality and give leadership to the school education system and in general
to the EFA movement in this country.
Thank You very much for giving me this opportunity I hope well have opportunity to discuss many
of these issues.
Honble Shri Kapil Sibal
Human Resource Development Minister, Government of India.
Ambassador and representative of the European union in India, Ambassador Cravinho; secretary
school education and literacy Ms. Anshu Vaish; secretary higher education Ashok Thakur; Professor
R. Govinda vice chancellor NUEPA; representative of UNESCO in India the distinguished Mr. Aoyagi
and Mr Amarjeet Singh, distinguished delegates - I believe there are about 45 countries represented
here so all the delegates who have come from abroad, all the distinguished governmental,
intergovernmental non-governmental organizations, guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
First of all, let me thank the secretariat for the task force on Teacher for EFA in agreeing to organize this
two day long conference, which will focus on a range of issues related to Teachers challenges in
India. We also thank the international Task force on Teachers for EFA who have elected India as the
coach here on Teachers for EFA and I thank the steering committee for having recommended Indias
C CC CCan in-service education be an in-service education be an in-service education be an in-service education be an in-service education be
provided purely through provided purely through provided purely through provided purely through provided purely through
external resource persons external resource persons external resource persons external resource persons external resource persons
often through packaged often through packaged often through packaged often through packaged often through packaged
modules that are transacted? modules that are transacted? modules that are transacted? modules that are transacted? modules that are transacted?
11
name, thank you very much. I also want to thank the Director General for the message for this conference.
Please convey my warm regards to her.
Teachers for EFA, when you talk about teachers education I feel somewhat puzzled but of course I
know the reality. Because it is the teacher who educates our children and the subject we are concerned
over here are how to educate our teachers. And that also tells us that there is a problem that the E9
countries face, a problem that the global community is facing, in terms of the quality of teachers who
teach the young. If I look at India then the numbers are mind boggling. The number of children under
14 in India is 400 million. That means its almost the entire population of Europe, more than the
population of United States of America. And to think that India is involved in this gigantic national
mission to empower our young to take India forward into the 21
st
century is a great challenge as well
as a great opportunity. And if India is to succeed in the 21
st
century, as one of the leading lights in the
global community, the one thing they need to do is to address this issue very seriously and the problem
is I believe mindset and the policy framework. The mindset problem is the following: How best minds
in the country or anywhere in the world move towards investments which will generate profit through
liquid capital? So the best minds in the world join investment banks and all business enterprises,
multinationals because they have a lot of liquid capital to invest. Whereas the best minds in the world
should invest in the capital asset which is perhaps the most precious that the global community has
- which is the Mind of a young child. And it is unfortunate that at the policy level all nations and all
parents in the world persuade their young to move towards jobs which will allow them to play with
liquid capital or profit without realizing that the most important capital is the mind of the young who
are going to grow into adults and then, of course, produce for the country. And unless, across the
globe, those who make policy realize that the most important area in which the nations investment
must be addressed is to all our children, I dont think that we are going to solve this problem. Thats
point number 1.
Point number 2 is that every country has its own solution to deal with a problem and we look at India
as a nation - a nation which has about, you know, several schedule languages, different cultures,
diverse regional environments, people belonging to different religions who are brought up differently,
you have tribal areas in some parts of the country where children are brought up in different
environment, you have urban areas like Delhi, Mumbai where children are brought up in an entirely
different environment, and the environment keeps on changing as you move across India. There are
for example 2500 dialects apart from the Schedule languages that are spoken. There are 2500 dialects
and so how do you actually bring about quality education in a country as diverse as India. And how
do you find programs for quality education which will fit into that diversity that I am talking about.
And if you really were to create modules for that there is no one module that will fit everybody. So the
biggest task, at least in India, is to be able to create modules that will fit into the particular diverse
environment in which the children are brought up in various parts of the country and thats not easy.
Thats the point number 2.
The third point that I wish to talk about is that when we talk about teachers one of the questions that
I think that Govinda raised is that how it is that the best minds dont go into the teaching profession?
In India, for example, employment and recruitment of teachers has nothing to do with the central
government. State governments in India are entirely responsible for their recruitment and since state
governments are responsible for their recruitment each state government decides on its own who to
recruit, how to recruit, what are the terms and conditions for that recruitment, what benefits will be
given to the teaching community and all that stuff. Therefore, each
state has a different vision. There is no uniformity in terms of the
recruitment processes, no uniformity in terms of salaries, no uniformity
in terms of benefits that the teachers are going to get, in terms of lifelong
pension, medical benefits, house rent allowance and stuff like that.
So unless state governments in India realize the importance of the
.....how it is that the .....how it is that the .....how it is that the .....how it is that the .....how it is that the
best minds don t go best minds don t go best minds don t go best minds don t go best minds don t go
into the teaching into the teaching into the teaching into the teaching into the teaching
prof ession? prof ession? prof ession? prof ession? prof ession?
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teaching community, you can keep on addressing the question of quality teaching but unless you have
quality people, you will not be able to deal with the problem of quality teaching. And quality people
will only come when you give them attractive prospects within the teaching profession. As Govinda
said, what is in it for a teacher who has done a D.Ed. or a B.Ed., what are his promotional areas? You
see, there are no promotional areas. In any other profession in the world we go through a process of
lifelong learning - this is something I do in politics on a daily basis but its true of other professions as
well. If its the legal profession you have to go through a process of lifelong learning, if its the medical
profession then you have to go through the process of lifelong learning, but where is that process of
lifelong learning in the teaching profession. There are no systems in place for lifelong learning because
as technologies change, as new methodologies are thought of in terms of how to teach your children,
how many teachers in India or anywhere in the world get access to those avenues?
So I personally think that the first thing we need to look at what is the teacher supposed to teach apart
from the universal values that we talk about but in the context of the environment in which the teacher
is placed what is he/she supposed to teach? In the 21
st
century, to prepare our children for the challenges
of the tomorrow, we must redefine what the processes of teaching must be in the 21
st
century - naturally
they will be entirely different from what they were in the 20
th
because the nature of challenges are
different. You have today access to technology that we never had before. You can truly envision a
scenario 10-15 years from now in which every classroom will be connected. Every classroom will be
connected throughout the country and any classroom will be connected across the world. You can
imagine a scenario where teachers and children will be talking to each other not just around India but
around the world. You can envision a scenario where the young will be preparing themselves for a
particular challenge not necessarily existing in India but existing in some other part of the world. You
can imagine a scenario where children will be actually looking at a collaborative solution for problems
not necessarily relevant in their own country. Thats the power of connectivity. And thats going to
happen. There is no power in the world that can stop it. Globalization is a reality; globalization of
education will be a reality. How do we then prepare for that? Because in the ultimate analysis, when you
talk of inequity, when you talk about discrimination, you really talking about lack of opportunity;
inequity and discrimination - the genesis of that is lack of
opportunity. Because you are born in a particular environment,
you dont have access to what other people are born with in a
different environment or what you need is access. You give the
child a computer lab and whole of the world that you see outside
you will grow with it and a child belonging to any part of the
country will be able to give you suggestions like anybody else.
How do we actually bring about the equality of opportunity
and then what is the role of the teacher in the context of a new
environment in which they are going to live in. Just say that as
the nature of learning must change, the nature of teaching too
must change. And I think we in the global community need to
start addressing that issue and we at the policy level need to
address the issue as how to get the best minds to invest in the capital asset of our country which are
our children. And if we address ourselves to these two problems I think we can solve a lot of challenges
that we are dealing with.
Then, of course, the nature of pedagogy is something that we can talk about; the nature of pedagogy
also must change. The teacher in the 21
st
century is more a guide than a repository of learning though
in the classroom the teacher is an inspirational figure. When I was younger, most of us when young,
we looked upon the teacher as epitome of wisdom, of inspiration or the best that happens to us and we
look upon teacher as God. The children of the 21
st
century are not looking upon their teachers as God.
.....we in the global .....we in the global .....we in the global .....we in the global .....we in the global
community need to start community need to start community need to start community need to start community need to start
addressing that issue addressing that issue addressing that issue addressing that issue addressing that issue
and we at the policy level and we at the policy level and we at the policy level and we at the policy level and we at the policy level
need to address the issue need to address the issue need to address the issue need to address the issue need to address the issue
as how to get the best as how to get the best as how to get the best as how to get the best as how to get the best
minds to invest in the minds to invest in the minds to invest in the minds to invest in the minds to invest in the
capital asset of our capital asset of our capital asset of our capital asset of our capital asset of our
country which are our country which are our country which are our country which are our country which are our
children. children. children. children. children.
13
Whether that is fortunate or unfortunate is another issue, a debatable issue. So we need in the classroom
the presence of an inspirational teacher, there is no doubt about it. But we also need that inspirational
teacher changes or the way he/she teaches. The nature of inspiration that is required for a child is
somewhat different. Classroom teaching is no longer about textbook learning. It is learning beyond the
textbook. It is no longer about being tested on the textbook, it is about being tested beyond the textbook.
It is no longer about learning the chapter that you have read the previous evening, it is about what you
need to learn based on what you have read the previous evening. In other words, the frontier of
knowledge in the classroom needs to be expanded. And those frontier of knowledge will only be
expanded when the nature of pedagogy changes. If you look at India as an example, you look at our
examination system it is based on textbook knowledge. So naturally the emphasis is on learning what
is written in the textbook and then regurgitating it in answering an examination paper. But if you were
to actually change the process of examination it will change the nature of teaching. Because you cant
answer the question by reading the text so naturally children will have to learn beyond the text and
therefore the teacher will have to teach beyond the text. So I think there need to be a lot of issues
discussed in context of teaching, quality teaching and it is related to a lot of other things it is related
to pedagogy, it is related the kind of people you recruit as I mentioned. And, of course, as I said in the
beginning, the nature of the challenges would be different as we look upon. The other day I was in
Uttar Pradesh, I have to share this with you, I was in Uttar Pradesh and everybody in India talks about
that the demographic advantage. Uttar Pradesh incidentally is a state in India which if it were to be a
separate nation it will be the 6
th
most populous nation in the world; just the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Now the maximum number of young are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. So all our demographic advantages
are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar but our human progress index in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is the
poorest if we compare to the rest of the country which means the poorest of the poor in Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar are the most under privileged in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and India. Most children in India
who dont have access to education are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar so the demographic advantage could
turn out to be a demographic disaster if you do not, people dont, invest in that capital asset. So you have
to have national strategies as well apart from the fact that we have to have a overall policy framework,
you have to have national strategy to address the issues where the challenges are the greatest, invest in
regions where the challenges are the greatest, invest money where the challenges are the greatest because
if you improve and empower the children of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar automatically the national human
development index will rise exponentially. And there again the quality of teachers is of utmost importance.
Some states in India are doing exceptionally well like Tamil Nadu and some of the other states, Maharashtra
is doing quite well too. But its the poorest states we have to strategize on.
I have been talking about the challenges of course but there are a lot of good things that have happened
in India. You know our mid day meal program - 1.2 million children on a daily basis is a key success.
Our access is 97 percent as was mentioned earlier but of
course then the dropout rate is huge. The worse enrolment
ratio at the secondary level is 30 percent and that grows into,
at higher secondary, 17 percent. Now thats a problem that
needs to be addressed. A part of that problem is that we have
not been able to get the quality teachers who can inspire our
students to walk forward in the school. Of course, this has
also has got to do with - if you look at United States of America
the entire university system is changing its curriculum.
Because the university system in the US realizes that people
cant get jobs after they pass out of the university system. The
nature of pedagogy and teaching in the university system
must change to address the demands of the community
because community wants skilled people for jobs. So the
nature of teaching must also address that problem. So apart
from teachers in maths, physics and chemistry there will be teachers who will address the problems of
B BB BBut if you were to actually ut if you were to actually ut if you were to actually ut if you were to actually ut if you were to actually
change the process of change the process of change the process of change the process of change the process of
examination it will change examination it will change examination it will change examination it will change examination it will change
the nature of teaching. the nature of teaching. the nature of teaching. the nature of teaching. the nature of teaching.
Because you can t answer Because you can t answer Because you can t answer Because you can t answer Because you can t answer
the question by reading the the question by reading the the question by reading the the question by reading the the question by reading the
text children will have to text children will have to text children will have to text children will have to text children will have to
learn beyond the text and learn beyond the text and learn beyond the text and learn beyond the text and learn beyond the text and
therefore the teacher will therefore the teacher will therefore the teacher will therefore the teacher will therefore the teacher will
have to teach beyond the have to teach beyond the have to teach beyond the have to teach beyond the have to teach beyond the
t ext . t ext . t ext . t ext . t ext .
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the community by empowering the teachers to teach children who can actually then get jobs and move
out of school. Not everybody will be a doctor, not everybody will be in medicine or engineering. There
will be lot of children who will go to a polytechnic and get skilled. And in a skilled environment,
ultimately get a job when one moves out in the community. So where are the teachers for that objective?
And out of 220 million children who go to school in India, ultimately by 2020 if we are able to get say 45-
50 million children into college, you will have 150 million children who are going to college and they
will need a job and we will need teachers for that. We will need teachers to skill them. For the jobs that
they aspire for when they move out of school or out of polytechnics. So how do we create a pool of
teachers for the skilled? This is not something that can happen overnight. But lots of things can be done.
And let me just set out 3-4 things that can be done to help the teaching profession. For example, we can
create a pool of pedagogy and now with ICT revolution we can actually set up databanks, and the
databanks can house a pool of pedagogy which can be accessed by anybody, any school, any child,
provided we are able to provide power in school. And every school doesnt have to invest, this can be
done at the national level. For example, I can take the example of higher education. If you were to take all
the medical journals anywhere in the world which are useful, and they were to be subscribed by one
agency in India and then housed in a data pool which can be housed anywhere. It can be housed in a
cloud so any institution can access a particular journal or 1 or 2 or 4 or 5 journal that they want and pay
a little bit for the service. Thats about it. So multiple investments are not necessary. This can happen in
school, it can happen in higher education. The child should not have to carry his textbook to school if we
are able to bring about the dream of the Akaash and make it something real for the children. Because
unless the global community thinks differently, redefines what literacy mean in the 21
st
century and we
must redefine and UNESCO must take that lead. Sometimes it is more important to know what to access
and how to access. When a research student becomes, you know starts learning how to research paper
the most important thing is how to research. If he doesnt know how to research he will not be educated.
So how the children must be taught the methodologies to access information, that should be part of
literacy- it is not so far a part of literacy and I think we need to have a UNESCO round table to figure out
what are the needs of the global community and what are the needs of our children across the globe for
the purpose of making them literate in the context of 21
st
century.
The second thing that we can think of that we should have a pool of teachers again at the global level, in
different languages, science, math, physics, and the language of the learner. This pool of trained teachers
can be the source of pedagogy which then can be accessed by anybody. And you will have thousands of
teachers volunteering for it. Why should we not have the possibility of the best math teacher in India
giving a lecture in math, teaching somebody and this particular lecture be accessed by all children in
India. It is possible. If the dream of the Akaash were made true its possible. I mean, we cant, the nation
cannot afford to wait for ten years to recruit people. 1.2 million teachers short - the status has reduced to
now 0.6 million but that also we have given funding for. So I think those will also be recruited very soon.
But recruitment is one thing, the nature of teaching is quite another thing. And there should be, when you
talk about continuous comprehensive education, why do you talk about CCE in the classroom, why
cant you talk about CCE for teacher, continuous comprehensive evaluation for teachers. They need to be
continuously evaluated and there can be self evaluation process, and need not be something that is
brought from outside but at least give the opportunity for the teacher to evaluate herself/himself to find
out where she/he stands. And it should be comprehensive. And we can have a pool of teachers creating
pedagogy of teacher evaluation, continuous comprehensive learning and evaluation of teachers. Why
do you limit it to the students in the classroom? Now I said all this, knowing fully well that these are
issues that need to be addressed. And these are not very issues, these are very contentious issue on which
people will have different points. Which is why I said what I said - because the whole purpose of this 2
day conference is to generate a kind of debate for
the global community in the context of
distinguished representatives here who have
come from 45 countries and with the task force
and policy framework and UNESCO presence
here. That it is time for us to think differently, to
act differently, and to do differently. Thank you.
.....at least give the opportunity for the .....at least give the opportunity for the .....at least give the opportunity for the .....at least give the opportunity for the .....at least give the opportunity for the
teacher to evaluate herself/himself to teacher to evaluate herself/himself to teacher to evaluate herself/himself to teacher to evaluate herself/himself to teacher to evaluate herself/himself to
find out where she/he stands. find out where she/he stands. find out where she/he stands. find out where she/he stands. find out where she/he stands.
15
Ashok Thakur
Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
Vote of Thanks
Shri Kapil Sibal ji, Honorable Human Resource Development Minister; Mr. Cravinho, Ambassador
European Union and head of the delegation; Shrimati Anshu Vaish, Secretary, School Education; Mr
Aoyagi, Director and UNESOC representative in India, my friend Kishore Singh, Dr. Govinda and Mr.
Amarjit Singh from our ministry and all the distinguished delegates from the 45 countries; participants
from the various states of our country.
If in the last 4-5 years, that is our 11
th
five year plan, we have been devoting to the hardware aspect - we
have been busy building up more central universities, more IITs, more IIMs - if that has been the
emphasis then in the next five years, that is the 12
th
five year plan, our emphasis is going to be on the
soft aspect of it. And when we talk about the soft aspects of education, teachers education comes
centre stage so our emphasis in the 12
th
five plan year plan is going to be majorly on teachers, because
we know that buildings alone do not make institutions; it is the people who are inside those buildings
and do exciting and creative things who actually make up institutions.
In our ministry, under the leadership of our Honorable Minister, who has passion, real passion for
education, we have been working together very seamlessly - whether it is the school education or
higher education. We are going to work jointly towards a major mission which is going to be the
National Mission on Teachers and this is going to straddle across the school education and on to the
higher education; even probably beyond because we believe that education is seamless you cannot
compartmentalize it, one fuses into the other. And it is in this spirit we are going to we are working to
have a National Mission on teachers education in the 12
th
five year plan, under the leadership of our
Honorable Minister.
I would just like to share one small thing that we achieved just yesterday under the able leadership of
our minister. We have, in our country, something known as the IIT, and they have a very tough exam
and that is the IIT-JEE exam. Unfortunately, because of social pressure, because of media hype,
everybody, all the school children, under pressure from their parents, started concentrating only on
that major exam, the JEE exam. With the result, the school education system was gradually eroding -
it was getting marginalized. The fundamentals of the children became very weak and they just resorted
to understanding and devising means of cracking that exam and somehow making into it. So that
great distortion which had crept several years back, yesterday the Honorable Minister completely
corrected it and from 2013 onwards, that is from next year onwards, school board marks will be given
weightage in a fairly comprehensive way for the selection into these premier institutions. So I think
this will really boost our school education system. So these are some of the steps which we are taking
and these are all innovative things coming out of the initiatives of our Minister.
As far as I have been given the task of thanking all the participants and all the honorable delegates on
the dais: First of all, I would like to thank our Honorable Minister for giving a very thought provoking
opening address as usual, inspiring too. I would also thank UNESCO, EU, UNICEF and specially the
Task Force on teachers. I also thank the esteemed speakers who shared their thoughts with us, the
exhibitors who exhibited their various things outside for the benefit of all of us, and above all I would
like to thank team MHRD under the leadership of Madam Anshu Vaish and Amarjit Singh of course,
who really took the brunt of organizing this thing. I also thank the media and the press for being
present here, and thank all of you, especially all the delegates who have come all the way from 45
countries. Thank you very much sir.
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Theme 1
Professional development of teachers
Teacher development is a long term process that is multi-dimensional in terms of content,
process and context and includes both formal and informal experiences.
Key contemporary challenges in teacher
education and tensions between policy and
needs
Rapid decline in the share of public school
enrolment is a serious public policy question
especially in the context of RTE. Importantly, while
over 80 percent of Indias children are enrolled in
state schools, over 80 percent of teacher education
institutions operate in the private sector.
Continuing low levels of learning compel one to
assess this shift in enrolment and deal with issues
of teacher preparation that may be the cause.
There is a great need of trained teachers in the
system. Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Orissa, UP and West Bengal, apart from the North
Eastern states have been identified as states that
grossly lag behind in their institutional capacity
to educate teachers (GoI, 2011). Even in other
states, there is a greater demand to prepare
teachers for diverse classrooms as the Supreme
Introduction
India is at a unique moment when social
movements and civil society initiatives have
culminated in several progressive legislations.
The educational discourse too has been enriched
by the NCF 2005 and NCFTE 2009. Both
documents have articulated major
epistemological shifts in imagining the nation
where constructs of local knowledge, active
citizenship, diversity and inclusion attempt to
redefine curriculum and to establish teaching as
social practice. Education which is central to both
social and national development cannot be
viewed as service delivery, to be closely monitored
and tightly controlled.
The ongoing debate on Universal Elementary
Education and curriculum renewal has reiterated
the close relationship between school and society.
There is an imperative need to evolve specific
measures to strengthen democracy, enhance the
quality of life and ensure higher levels of social
justice for all. Thus, while learning needs to be
looked at as a collective rather than an individual
activity; teaching needs to be not a technical skill
but a social practice. The presentations in the
session on professional development of teachers
brought out this paradigm shift in perception. The
discussions in the session investigated the
following themes:
Key contemporary challenges in teacher
education and tensions between policy and
needs;
Re-conceptualizing pre-service teacher
education;
Reforming in-service teacher education;
Supporting teachers to acquire qualifications;
Role of corporate organizations and NGOs
in teacher education;
Developing DIETs through their linkages with
higher education institutions (HEIs);
International practices: Learning from the
global community.
Projected shortfalls in teacher supply
In the context of EFA and MDG goals,
there is a need of 10 million teachers
worldwide. The greatest need is in Africa
where 3.4 million teachers are needed by
2015. South and West Asia requires 4.7
million teachers. In India, ccurrently
523,000 are vacant. Government policies
are in place to reduce class sizes and to
ensure universal access to primary
education require an additional 510,000
over and above current vacancies. There
are regional differences within the country
such as in Delhi, the proportion of
unqualified teachers is 0.08% where as in
Arunachal Pradesh (a state with minimal
teacher training capacity) the unqualified
percentage is 71.21%. In comparison,
Bihar has 45% of existing teachers as
unqualified.
17
Court has upheld the 25 percent reservation for
the economically weaker sections decision.
Several long debated issues are being positioned
as forced choices. These include:
The conflict between private and public
schooling arrangements;
Diversification and selectivity of the teacher
workforce;
Multiple locations as the site for teacher
preparation: state and university, private and
public;
Long duration pre-service teacher education
vs. short-term measures of in-service training;
Contradictions of simultaneous regulation
and deregulation.
We need to examine the tension between policy
imperatives and the lived reality of school
education rather than position them as forced
choices. NCF 2005 and NCFTE, 2009 although in
consonance with processes of policy-making, are
outside the domain of policy enforcement and the
current instruments that are used to enable this.
Policy, for instance, cannot ensure that a
curriculum is interpreted as intended through the
medium of a textbook. Therefore, while school and
teacher education curriculum speak of educating
for and in a diverse society, specific policy
measures adopted, such as large scale testing of
learning outcomes, seek to standardize school
education. Likewise, policy enforcement seeks to
ensure teacher accountability rather than teacher
development.
Tensions also exist in the quality discourse itself.
For instance, ideas of learning guarantee through
large scale testing of learning outcomes and
teacher performance and management, have
begun to define the quality dimension of
education. Simultaneously, commissioned
educational research has built a discourse around
aspects of teacher absenteeism, teacher motivation
and teacher accountability, and instructional
time-on-task. This research has positioned the
school teacher as the chief reason for the declining
quality of school education, leading to an anti-
teacher discourse and marginalization of the role
of the teacher. Teachers, perhaps unfairly, are
viewed as responsible for declining quality and
are seen as objects of reform. Exercises such as
lesson planning, standard materials are eroding
teachers autonomy. Meticulously designed
lesson plans and other teacher-proof materials
are being marketed. These are designed for a cadre
of school teachers with or without pre-service
qualification to merely implement and increase
learner performance. Meanwhile, a proliferation
of private institutions requires rigorous
monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure
that the for-profit dimension does not overtake
the quality dimension in teacher education. This
raises the questions of who should be the target
of reforms - Institutions or individuals.
Re-conceptualizing pre-service teacher
education
The approach to the education of school teachers
has remained unchanged for half a century in
two crucial aspects:
The institutionalized intellectual isolation of
the student teacher and
A circumscribed engagement with pedagogy
as mere technique.
Institutionalized intellectual isolation
In India, the pre-service course structure remains
largely in the form of 1-2 year, top-up programs.
They follow a monolithic program structure thus
Teacher Education Institutes (TEI) culture remains
static and pedantic. B.Ed. programs assume that
the subject or discipline knowledge is fixed by
the graduate degree course and focus only on
pedagogy. Isolation of TEIs at both university and
the SCERT stems from lack of linkages with
Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), limited
engagement with schools, and University
departments of education not being organically
linked with science, social science, humanities
departments.
The institutional cultures of pre-service teacher
education in India are also a consequence of their
positioning in a system of higher education. The
bulk of secondary teacher education institutes
offering B.Ed. are outside university campuses.
Elementary teacher education institutes offering
D.Ed. are not linked to universities. However, this
is set to change with the 12
th
Plan proposals to
restore the link between schools and higher
education.
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Viewing pedagogy as mere technique
Pre-service programs have remained frozen and
their pedagogy is severed from the context in
which it takes place. The social context of learning
is being ignored and education remains a
routinized classroom activity - the holding of
examinations where the onus of learning rests
with learners. Psychology and the psychometric
tradition have assumed an overarching influence
on aspects of teacher education curriculum
transaction and learning. For instance, the
computational model of the learners mind is
considered to be more suitable because it is seen
to provide a practical framework for the teacher.
This is so, despite a significant body of research
that has established the situated nature of
cognition and learning in social and cultural
practice. The oversimplified psychological frame
forms the dominant sub-culture of teacher
preparation, maintaining the false neutrality of
teacher education programs.
Policy measures are needed to articulate evidence-
based expectations from teacher preparation,
expand the profile of institutions that provide the
entry level teacher education while ensuring
systemic, close, multi-disciplinary linkages with
institutions of higher education/research, and
forge robust links with schools as part of the
program. Further, recognizing the importance of
social and cultural factors in learning, needs to
be given respect in policy articulation.
Reforming in-service teacher education
For continuous support to teachers, a national
policy for reaching out to all teachers in the system
began with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, in the year
2000, through provision of 3 weeks orientation/
refresher course on an annual basis - the largest
initiative anywhere, except perhaps in China. In-
service teacher education in India is dealing with
large numbers of teachers. Every year, training is
imparted to nearly 4 million teachers.
In the past, this training has been mechanistic -
determined and implemented through a top-
down cascade process. This de-contextualizes
and raises issues of conceptualizing pedagogy
as a mere collection of skill sets or knowledge
areas. The lack of involvement of HEIs in the
planning of in-service teacher education has also
isolated the evolving teacher from the larger
educational discourse.
The mechanism and structure are in place, the
need now is:
To move from mechanistic approaches to
organic ones;
Root the process among the teachers;
Create planned spaces for their voice,
knowledge and agency;
Link with higher education/research
agencies as well as have direct, intimate
engagement with childrens learning;
Enable policy requirement for supporting the
formation of teachers networks
Supporting teachers to acquire qualifications
An estimated 1 million teachers do not currently have
the academic or professional qualifications mandated
by the RTE. The current policy direction is to look for
quick, one-shot distance education programs heavily
rooted in ICT. A more sustained policy approach
would be to generate a community of teachers and
have a 3-5 year program based on their needs
implemented with the support of an HEI.
Role of corporate organizations and NGOs in
teacher education
The use of programs under Corporate Social
Responsibilities (CSRs) has exploded in
magnitude in recent years and their role and
impact on government teacher education and
Recognition, Affiliation and
Certification
All teacher education programs
require recognition by the National
Council of Teacher Education
(NCTE)
State Councils of Educational
Research and Training (SCERT)
provides affiliation and certification
for diploma programs
State/Central universities provide
affiliation and certification for degree
programs
19
school systems has not been explored in detail.
Their presence in in-service teacher education is
rising exponentially in the states: Policies are
required to move from fragmented sectoral
approaches towards integrated synergistic
approaches with proven outcomes. Such
organizations also need to interact and work in
consonance with universities and the academia
so that they can play an informed role in
revitalizing teacher education.
Developing DIETs through their linkages with
HEIs
The translation of the DIET idea into successful
practice can only happen if appropriate linkages
with universities would root the required
knowledge and professional expertise among
teacher educators and teachers. There are
proposals to upgrade DIETs to undergraduate
colleges affiliated to state universities in a phased
manner. This will enable them to offer 4-year
integrated programs of teacher education. Faculty
renewal through cross-deployment across
universities/NGOs/research institutions and
personnel movements across DIETs based on
professional merit (rather than transfers) are
important possibilities. If the in-service training
is imaginatively designed, DIETs will be able to
engage school teachers so that they can
incorporate ideas into their own classroom
teaching and engage in their own
experimentations in the schools.
The 12
th
plan document provides various
measures to re-vitalize the DIETs and teacher
education by forging a closer link with the HEIs
and developing a separate cadre of teacher
educators, as has been the successful experience
of some states. Researchers from HEIs could orient
DIET faculty, participate in design, collection of
data, devise tools for research and encourage
school teachers and students to document and
publish their efforts.
International practices: Learning from the global
community
Lastly, some of the systems in place
internationally, which are yet to find space in the
Indian teacher education system are briefly
highlighted for shaping future policies :
Substitute teachers on call;
Teacher: teacher educator ratio;
Mentoring system in schools;
Orientation for teacher educators;
Standards based system of education and
teacher education.
Open Distance Learning (ODL) could also be
effectively used in pre-service and in-service
training of teachers on a large scale as well as in
a shorter time-scale. It provides more access to
quality learning resources and continuing
professional development to remote and rural
teachers. Subsequently, it upgrades programs for
both qualified and unqualified teachers while on-
the-job while providing cost-effective teacher
education and training. However, such
approaches need to be studied in detail and
considerably adapted to suit the issues of teacher
professional development in India.
Recommendations
1. Strengthen links between Universities,
Teacher Education and School Education
across India. Power of this idea is visible in
the engagement of university-based
academics in the articulation of the NCF
2005, and NCERTs new school textbooks.
Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
It is an inter-governmental organization established and
funded by Commonwealth Governments. It is
headquartered in Vancouver and has an international
board and staff with several hundred projects/model
building and shared experience/global networks. Core
Strategies of COL includes Partnerships, Capacity
building and Materials development including OER.
Through its teacher education initiative, and in
partnership with teacher education institutions,
ministries of education and some development partners,
COL provides support to teacher education institutions
to design and deliver quality teacher education through
ODL. It helps conventional teacher education
institutions transition to dual mode by facilitating the
development and use of Open Education Resources
(OERs). It develops the capacity of teachers and
teacher educators to implement child friendly schools
models and approaches and advocates the use of ODL
in teacher education to address shortfalls in teacher
supply and enhance teacher quality.
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Such linkages could be parallely done
through:
Creating a Teacher Education Cell in the
University Grants Commission (UGC);
Forming State-level research institutions
for curriculum studies, gender studies,
cognitive studies, child development,
linguistics;
Linking SCERTs and DIETs with
Research/Higher Education institutions;
Closer and well thought out links
between schools and teacher education
programs.
2. Interdisciplinary platforms for educational
research and practice and teacher support
need to be established.
3. National Institutes of excellence can be
envisioned to be drawn upon to fill critical
gaps in mathematics and sciences. Select
Universities and Institutes of higher
education could establish Schools of
Education to help develop education as an
interdisciplinary enterprise and include
centres that undertake in-depth work in
neglected areas of school education.
4. Inter-disciplinary postgraduate programs of
study with specialization in curriculum
studies, pedagogic studies and assessment
need to be developed. This would help
develop a cadre of professionals and in
creating a body of contextually relevant
knowledge
5. The Teacher Education Program could have
lateral entry points. There can be electives in
education at the undergraduate level. Some
of the existing programs may be deepened
and reconstructed:
2 years for B.Ed. with internship;
5 year integrated programs in education;
Blended program wherein teachers
continue formal education through
distance/vacation mode for 1-2 years
after they join schools
4 year B.Sc. Ed /B.A. Ed. conducted by
university departments in science,
mathematics, social science, humanities
departments.
These could draw upon the two decade
experience of the B.El.Ed. which sets the
example of an interdisciplinary Elementary
Teacher Education Program offered by
undergraduate Colleges of the University of
Delhi, Delhi. The MA program in elementary
education offered at TISS, Mumbai offers a
model for the professional development of the
professional cadres in EE.
6. Generate local level groups of teachers for
teacher training. Have a credits based system
to assess what they need to become qualified,
and set up a gradual 3-5 year program of
study with commensurate rewards on
attainment. HEIs may be involved.
7. Revamp pre-service teacher education and
continued professional development of
school teachers. Use the RTE Act as an
opportunity to enforce structural changes in
the teacher education sector, towards
recruitment, development of a professional
cadre of teachers, teacher educators and
researchers.
Summary
The session on Teacher Professional
Development (TPD) focused on the challenges
and opportunities in redesigning and upgrading
current teacher education programs. The speakers
emphasized how, in India, teacher education is
constantly being shaped by the tension between
the educational discourse which visualizes
teacher education as complex and the policy
discourse which views teaching as a mere service
delivery mechanism. While teacher education
policies focus on teaching for diversity, the school
outcomes are being increasingly measured
through standardized tests/exams. The necessity
to have organic linkages of teacher education with
other departments in the University and for
institutional frameworks was emphasized.
In the working group, the participants felt that
growth of teacher should be linked to
remuneration and that there was a need to see
professional development of teachers at all three
levels: entry, pre-service and in-service. Further,
policies which look at innovative teacher
education programs with lateral entry points and
closer linkages to HEIs could be put in place. The
21
continuous professional development of teachers
also could provide teachers with variety of
experiences like faculty exchange programs,
action research projects and sabbaticals in
association with universities.
This session was moderated by Professor Parvin
Sinclair, Director, NCERT.
Professor Sinclair is a professor of Mathematics.
She has been closely associated with the field of
education, especially mathematics education and
distance learning, for over two decades. At the
Indira Gandhi National Open University,
Professor Sinclair also developed, with the help
of individuals working in the field, a certificate
program in teaching of primary school
mathematics, a first of its kind in the world.
The keynote speakers in the session were:
1. Dr. Janaki Rajan, Faculty of Education, Jamia
Milia Islamia.
Dr. Janaki Rajan is an E. Desmond Lee Scholar
for Global Awareness, Webster University, St.
Louis, Missouri, USA. She was Director, SCERT,
Delhi from 2000-2006 and Reader, Central
University of Education, Delhi University from
1994-2000; Research Associate, Centre for Policy
Research, New Delhi, 1992-94. Prior to that, she
taught at primary and secondary schools and
headed a teacher education institute for Muslim
minorities in Hyderabad. Dr. Rajan holds a
Bachelors degree in Chemistry and Masters in
Education, English Literature and Psychology.
Her doctoral thesis was on development of the
concepts of space and time among primary school
children using the Piagetian framework. Her
research interests are curriculum and pedagogic
studies, gender studies, human rights, community
engagement for universal elementary education
and teacher education. She is an Ashoka Fellow-
Innovators for the Public. She has a number of
publications and is associated with several
professional and non-government organizations.
2. Professor Poonam Batra, Central Institute of
Education, (Department of Education), University
of Delhi.
Professor Batra has over 29 years of teaching,
research and professional experience in
education. Major areas of professional focus
include public policy in education; curriculum
and pedagogy; social psychology of education,
teacher education and gender studies. Awarded
the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 2008 for
undertaking research in teacher education and
social change, Professor Batra has been on several
GoI committees including the Planning
Commission Working Group on Teacher
Education and the NAC-RTE Task Force on
teachers. Publications cover a range of issues in
elementary education and public policy including
an edited volume on Social Science Learning in
Schools: Perspective and Challenges, published
by Sage in 2010.
3. Dr. Abdurrahman Umar, Education Specialist,
Teacher Education, Commonwealth of Learning.
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Theme 2
Decentralization - challenges and steps forward
Decentralization vs. centralization in teacher
education - understanding the debate
Decentralization is regarded as a principle of
administration, extremely desirable in todays
democratic context where we need to take
decisions at the local level. The push towards
decentralization has also been partly driven by
the notion that centralization produces rigidity,
uniformity and less flexibility than what is
required for dealing with local issues, leading to
bureaucratization, delay and lack of
accountability. Therefore, the shift in the seat of
decision-making is expected to bring more
responsibility, accountability and ownership.
However, this notion misses out on the benefits
that decision making at the centre brings. The
centre has access to the larger picture and access
to power that is useful in consensus building. It
has access to better expertise to formulate policies
and more current and accurate knowledge. The
notion also fails to acknowledge that in India, the
local may be in need of reforms and alteration
and hence may need to be infused with values
and thinking that are not already a part of the
landscape. The centre, on the other hand, is
structurally designed to be less parochial and
more beneficial in taking decisions linked to the
public domain.
In the context of school education,
decentralization is seen as an effective way to
improve community participation and of making
schools more effective through increased
accountability. Given the extremely contextual
nature of what happens in school education, RTE
recognized the need for local involvement as a
necessary feature for school education in a
democracy. NCF 2005 referred to the idea of the
school curriculum being localized and directed
towards local concepts - and teachers especially
can be useful contributors to this process. This is,
Introduction
As the need to provide autonomy at the ground
level is being increasingly voiced, not just by
people in academia but also practitioners at the
ground level, decentralization is gaining immense
popularity. It promotes linking of school
knowledge with the knowledge of the community,
for better understanding and also as a means of
inclusion of locally relevant content in the
curriculum and pedagogy. Although its relevance
and need in schooling is quite clear, how
decentralization would or has impacted Teacher
Education needs more dialogue and research.
In the context of teacher education, the
Chattopadhyaya Committee Report (1983-85)
emphasized the significance and need for a
decentralized system for the professional
preparation of teachers in India. This policy was
put in place proactively by the Central
Government in the 8
th
Plan with the establishment
of District Institutes of Education and Training
(DIETs), Institutes of Advanced Studies in
Education (IASEs) and Colleges of Teacher
Education (CTEs) through the Centrally
Sponsored Scheme of Restructuring and
Reorganization of Teacher Education. The DIETs
were envisioned as Academic Lead Institutions
to provide guidance to all academic functionaries
in the district. But their impact on teacher
education is still considered limited. Are the
DIETs a good example of decentralization? What
is the role of the central government in a
decentralized context? These were some of the
questions which were discussed during the
session on decentralization. The key themes
which emerged are:
Decentralization vs. centralization in teacher
education - understanding the debate;
Key pre-requisites for effective
decentralization ;
Decentralization issues and challenges.
23
however, a complex area and attention needs to
be paid to the school structures that govern the
teachers work, their capability and their
autonomy or rather the lack of it.
Decentralization in Teacher Education (TE) is
even far less understood and issues pertaining to
how it can be applied to pre-service and in-service
teacher education are unresolved. For instance,
although one could envision the role for the
community in how school internships are held,
whether they can contribute to the conduct of in-
service TE is doubtful. Setting up of DIETs as
institutions to provide teacher education at the
district level is one way perhaps. Decentralization
cannot be treated as an either-or question. Rather,
one could begin to discuss which areas in teacher
education would benefit most by decentralization
or alternatively, what would be the pre-requisites
for effective decentralization.
Key pre-requisites for effective decentralization
Decentralization is important to build
commitment and ownership of programs. If these
programs are designed completely at the centre
and include rigid guidelines on how they need to
be implemented (example, topics for each session,
assessment formats, methods of teaching for each
topic), then the role of the institution at the local
level becomes that of a delivery agent. This leads
to too much rigidity and prevents much needed
contextualization. On the other hand, true
contextualization can only be possible in a
generalized framework of ideas. For instance,
while mother tongue is an excellent medium for
instruction, language development of the child
become difficult if we do not connect it to her
conceptual development and if we do not
introduce other languages to her. Similarly, a
focus on local geographical information will not
be very useful if it is not connected to human well-
being and the environment. Or, looking at local
customs without examining the framework of
equality and justice; an exclusive focus on
contextualization may becomes blinding and
parochial.
Another critical requirement for decentralization
is the freedom to the local agencies to engage in a
healthy critique of the curriculum and design and
provide constructive feedback to the center on
what would make such programs more
meaningful. If the center defines norms which are
deemed as the only way to conduct the program,
it is difficult to fight against them.
Although decentralization usually brings
ownership, it is important that the decision
makers at the local level understand the pros and
cons of different decisions and are able to
reasonably anticipate their impact. The need to
become skillful at planning and tracking the
implementation of plans through regular
milestones is crucial. The people on the ground
also need to be supported with continued
academic and administrative learning from other
decentralized authorities. There needs to be a
forum where such learning are discussed and
shared. Finally, a strong monitoring mechanism
which encourages quick feedback and self-
regulation would be extremely useful.
Another key requirement for decentralization is
autonomy. This autonomy relates not only to
decisions about what kind of trainings and
professional developments to offer and choose but
also financial autonomy in designing new course
structures for effective teacher education. Any
decentralization is unlikely to work without
access to resources and autonomy in how they
may be used.
Decentralization requires a feedback loop so that
the decision makers can understand the impact
of their decisions. In TE in most states, there is no
continuing fixed group of people who prepares
the material and trains teachers; and there is no
feedback loop from the trainers either. Therefore
the people who make the material find it difficult
to modify material with respect to what is
happening on the ground. This also makes it
difficult to pin down and resolve the reasons
which make trainings poor.
Convergence can also be a key factor in effective
decentralization. While the centre or state may
devolve powers to different agencies on the
ground they cannot give multiple training
institutions the freedom to target the same group
of teachers. This would not only confuse and tire
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the teachers but also lead to waste due to
inefficiencies of similar content being developed
and offered. Similarly, there needs to be
convergence at the state and centre level too.
Having two organizations (one at centre and the
other at state) deciding issues linked to state
curriculum might not be useful. Hence, the role of
SCERT, IASEs, CTEs and DIETs needs to be clearly
defined by the different projects and schemes in
teacher training. Structures must be put in place
for various coordinating agencies like District
Education Offices, Resource Persons, DIETs, SSA
to come together and make decisions for the
district. At present, the district authorities act more
like mediating agencies to implement what has
been decided at the state or centre level. Regular
meetings to achieve given objectives of
professional development of teachers are likely
to bring out and clear role overlaps and build
strengths in participative decision-making.
Decentralization - issues and challenges
One of the concerns, highlighted often, is how to
balance autonomy and contextualization with
the larger central vision of education. In case of
monitoring teacher education institutions for
example, how much freedom may be given to the
state to work around the guidelines set by NCTE.
Another key concern is in the different
interpretations and perspectives towards
decentralization which are held by the various
states and the centre. What level of
decentralization is needed is still an open
question. Should it stop at the district and block
level or should it go on till the schools? How do
we determine the capabilities of decision makers
at different levels? What is the role of SMCs in
TE? How do we involve the community in a
dialogue on whether decentralization is needed?
Although the Principle of subsidiarity (we decide
what we need to do then decide who is best placed
to do it at the level closest to implementation) is
useful, it requires that the concerned local
authorities take responsibilities and
accountability for success of the project. This is
usually missing. In that case, decentralization
would be enforced like other things from the top.
The need for decentralization, therefore, might be
a good thing, what is needed is an agreement on
desirable and relevant form of engagement.
Recommendations
These were some of the key recommendations from
the discussions
1. The role of the Head teacher, the SMC and
boards of governance need to be clearly
defined. They could be guided through
Standards.
2. The principle of subsidiarity may be used
rather than defining specific roles for block,
state and village. The Principle means that
we decide what we need to do then decide
who is best placed to do it at the level closest
to implementation. This requires taking stock
of capability and resource availability at
different levels
3. The end must be kept in mind before deciding
whether decentralization can address it
rather than treating it as an end in itself.
Further, there might be various models of
decentralization which could be applied
depending on the context. A one-model-fits-
all approach is unlikely to work.
4. Public dialogue about the needs of
decentralization is required. It should focus
on trust from the centre and the support for
capacity building and accountability on the
part of the local authorities.
5. Country specific understanding, to reflect on
the homogeneities, heterogeneities and
diversity within which decentralization is
discussed, is needed. There are differences
not only in the government structure but also
in polity and its diversity within which
decentralization needs to work. More
dialogues and discussions among different
countries would help form a richer
understanding of the concept.
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Summary
The speakers in this session highlighted that
although there may be universal acceptance of
the need for decentralization, what is needed is
an agreement on how it can be achieved. It is
important to make decentralization as a way of
thinking- only then it can lead to academic
vibrancy. It would result in closer interaction of
schools and teaching colleges, and professional
development rooted in the teachers own needs
as they create their own bouquet of professional
development opportunities. There was also the
need to differentiate teacher needs instead of
putting new and experienced teachers in the same
training basket. Other pre-requisites for effective
decentralization include autonomy, convergence
and feedback loops.
The working group session on decentralization
brought forth the need to give freedom to district
specific institutions like DIETs so that location
specific nuances can be incorporated. This, the
group felt, also required an assessment of capacity
at such institutions. Another idea is to think
through ways to adapt curriculum to local needs.
Having forums where states could dialogue and
share best practices was also mooted. The group
highlighted that decentralization must not be
looked at as the answer to every educational
problem. It has its own challenges and could lead
to a parochial perspective, constrained identities
and a misalignment of the specific role and vision
of various districts with that of the center. The
vision of the centre is needed to ensure
consistency in the aims of education across the
country.
This session was moderated by Dr. Padma
Sarngapani, Professor, TISS, Mumbai.
Dr. Sarangapani has worked in the area of
elementary education, curriculum studies and
teacher education, and has collaborated closely
with State government of Karnataka on the District
and sub-district level resource institutions for
teachers. She is currently involved with a study
on quality in education and on resource centres
for teacher professional development. Her book
Constructing School Knowledge is published by
Sage, 2003.
The keynote speakers in this session were:
1. Dr.Rohit Dhankar, Professor, Azim Premji
University, Bangalore
Professor Dhankar also teaches a philosophy of
education course as visiting faculty at TISS,
Mumbai. He has been part of many NCERT
initiatives in developing material and curriculum
through various committees. He was an integral
part of the National Curriculum Framework 2005
process as a member of the National Steering
Committee, drafting committee and Chair of Focus
Group on Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbooks.
He is also a part of the collaborative group of
institutions that developed the M.A. Elementary
Education program of TISS and has been involved
with capacity building of educational
functionaries at the national level and with
various states.
Rohit trained as a teacher under David
Horsburgh in the Neelbagh School, and taught at
the elementary level for about 15 years. He is
founder secretary of Digantar, a voluntary
organization in Jaipur engaged in providing
alternative education to rural children.
Digantar endeavors to nurture self-motivated and
independent learners equipped with the ability
to think critically. As an organization Digantar
has been and continues to work with government
system at the level of improvement in schools,
working with DIETs, in-service training and
research in education.
2. Smt. B. Seshu Kumari, Director, SCERT,
Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.
She was formerly, Director, Community Managed
Education Services, Society for Elimination of
Rural Poverty (SERP), RD Department (Oct 08 to
Dec 2010).- Prior to this, she was Resource Group
Director, Human Development, Centre for Good
Governance (CGG) (2005 to Oct 08) and also
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worked in the School Education Department as
State Academic Monitoring Officer, Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyaan, AP (2004 -05), Deputy Director,
Planning & Statistics, School Education
Department, AP(1998-2002), DEO, Ranga
Reddy(2003), Deputy Educational Officer &
Assistant Director of School Education (1988 -98).
3. Dr. Ora Kwo, Faculty of Education,
University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Kwo has taught in the Faculty of Education at
the University of Hong Kong for three decades.
Much of her work has focused on the dynamics
of teachers learning and the power of community
discourses. In 1997, she was awarded a
University Teaching Fellowship in formal
recognition of her excellence in teaching. Among
her edited works are Developing Learning
Environments: Creativity, Motivation and
Collaboration in Higher Education (2004) and a
special issue of the International Journal of
Educational Research (2004) entitled Uncovering
the Inner Power of Teachers Lives. Her research
also examines the significance of inter-
disciplinary learning and community approaches
for educational leadership.
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Theme 3
Gender issues in the teaching force
Women teachers are not serious about their jobs.
They do not take on any administrative work
around the school and refuse if asked to stay longer
than school hours.
Talking about gender during teacher training is a
waste of time, we should talk about subjects.
Voices of some functionaries in the Indian education
system.
With these conflicts in mind the conference
focused on the challenges of developing a gender
sensitive curriculum, best practices for women
participation in the teaching profession and
incentives to promote female participation in the
teaching profession.
The discussions which were held could be
broadly collated under the following key themes:
Teachers as agents of change or socialization;
Gender equality and the Indian education
system;
International perspectives on feminization of
the teacher workforce.
Teachers as agents of change or socialization
Teachers are seen as harbingers of equality and
justice and agents of change in a society. This is a
very challenging task as teachers are a part of the
very society that they are to spearhead change in.
Their attitudes, belief systems and prejudices are
often not very different from those held by society
in general. And so in most cases they do not
question these, let alone feel the need to change
them. Voicing these sentiments, the NCF 2005
states Teachers and children are a part of the larger
society where identities based on membership of caste,
gender, religious and linguistic group, as well as
economic status inform social interaction, though this
varies in different, social, cultural and regional
contextsResearch on school premises suggests that
identities of children continue to influence their
treatment within schools, thereby denying them
meaningful and equal opportunities to learn. As a part
Gender equality is one of the six areas laid out by the
international community at the World Education
Forum in the year 2000 when they defined the global
Education for All (EFA) agenda. It is also one of the
eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are
to be achieved by 2015 according to the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP).
A historical analysis of the experiences of
countries that have achieved goals of universal
primary education (UPE) and gender parity in
education indicates that an influx of women into
the teaching profession has been central to these
successes. Besides the need for more women in
the teaching profession it is also necessary to
initiate and sustain a dialog on various issues of
gender equality within the teaching force.
However, the statements given below present
conflicting pictures of the progress India has
made in achieving gender equality in education.
While data shows that more and more girls are
entering schools and a greater number of women
are part of the teaching force, voices of
functionaries within the education system tell us
that the picture might not be complete.
Differences between men and women are because of
their sex- women can produce babies, men cannot.
Because of this difference women are naturally more
caring, loving and giving than men.
Both men and women are comfortable in the roles
allotted to them, why disturb the situation.
Some statistics
48 percent girls are enrolled in primary
schools.
The gender parity index in the upper
primary classes is 0.91.
74 percent schools (primary and upper
primary not including single-teacher
schools) have at least one female teacher
NUEPA, 2008
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of the experience of schooling, children also receive
implicit messages through interpersonal relationships,
teacher attitudes, and norms and values that are part
of the culture of schoolGirls are often subject to
stereotypical expectations based on stereotypical
expectations based on notions of their future roles as
wives and mothers rather than enabling them to
develop their capabilities and claim their rights.
(pg. 82-83)
In such a situation when talking of gender issues
that frame the teaching force it becomes important
to address the goal of gender equality qualitatively
and not merely limit it to improving access for the
girl child.
Gender equality and the Indian education
system
Focus on quantitative criteria
Gender has come to be equated to the girl child
since the slogan of Universalization of
Elementary Education (UEE) gained currency in
India in the early 1990s. Achievements in gender
equality have become restricted to numbers and
data that track girl child access to schooling. An
increase in enrolment of girls, fall in the dropout
rate of girls, an improvement in the gender parity
index and an increase in the number of female
teachers is what we usually map. Since what is
mapped and measured is also what is done, the
focus of planning for achieving the goal of gender
equality is also restricted to these numbers. The
treatment of UEE as a time-bound mission has
also increased the emphasis on collecting and
improving these numbers and it almost seems like
programs are positioning gender as a biological
construct and not a social one; and this is
problematic.
The discussion about gender is often just
completely taken over by statistics of how boys
and girls are performing and the percentage of
boys and girls in classrooms. The focus must
rather be to look at teachers education and what
is it that teachers are understanding about gender.
Gender attitudes are held both by male and female
teachers so there is a need to train both. Just
because the teacher is a woman, it does not mean
that she naturally become child friendly or
sensitive to gender issues. This would be making
a biological link between a gender understanding
Simplistic Understanding of Gender
Equality
In a state in India, the textbook expert committee
reviewed all the textbooks from class 1-12 and
pictures illustrating gender stereotypes were
removed; a higher percentage of women teachers
are there in primary schools, more girls are
passing out of high schools and the results of
girls are much higher than boys in the 12
th
grade. This led the state functionaries to worry
about the lesser achievement of boys in the
state. They proposed that there is no gender
equity or equality and girls are actually
outsmarting boys in every field.
Such questions are common. For instance, often
questions are also raised about how even
though recruitment of female teachers has
increased, why they seem to carry stereotypical
ideas and assumptions about gender.
and the biology of the woman and there is a need
to exercise care in reaching such conclusions.
Gender is an add-on issue to teacher development
Most teachers continue to consider issues that
arise out of gender as mere family matters or a
matter of addressing a social ill and do not want
to deal with the conflict that arises by talking about
it in trainings. Gender is also considered a soft
area to be treated separately from the critical areas
of curriculum and pedagogy. It is kept isolated
from all subject knowledge and is in fact an add-
on in teacher training modules in the form of a
certain number of hours in a day. This gives no
space to teachers to analyze their own
assumptions about gender and undergo
transformatory experiences. In such a situation
talking about gender is reduced to providing
teachers a list of dos-and-dont in training
manuals that they are expected to follow and
behave in accordance with.
The position paper of NCF 2005 on gender issues
in education makes a break from these
understandings. It states that education is a project
of possibility that expands the notion of what it is to be
humana project of possibility begins with a critique
of current realities, that a contradiction exists between
29
the openness of human capacities that we encourage in
a free society and the social forms that are provided
and within which we must live are live.(pg. 23)
To engage with this project it asks for the adoption of
a substantive or corrective approach to equality which
is not simply concerned with equality in treatment,
but equality in terms of outcome and develops in the
learner the ability to question relations of power that
are central to the hierarchies of gender (pg. 25).
Thus, NCF 2005 considers gender to be a matter
of equity requiring an understanding of power
which includes not only that which exists in a
relationship between a man and a woman but
also in caste, class and so on. Within this
framework it asks for teacher trainings to be
conceptualized very differently. It emphasizes
that gender needs to be integrated with subjects
and not be treated as a separate input.
Importantly, teacher trainings requires a
pedagogic approach that allows teachers not just
to study gender theory but also engage with their
own position in society vis--vis their gender
roles.
Imagining a transformative experience
There is a need for a vision that is
transformative. Just as a child comes
to learn in a school and reflects on her
experiences, similarly teacher training
too needs to be transformative. It needs
to encourage teachers to look within
and imagine new ways of being, of
communities, of equity and equality as
values. The trainings need to address
issues in that larger framework of
gender equity. By treating gender as an
isolated marker of inequality and not
understanding other markers of
inequality and their relationship with
gender, one is quite likely to continue
to just talk about boys and girls and be
trapped within a biological
understanding of gender. It is possible
that one can be experiencing inequality
not just because she is a girl but
because she is a tribal, or that she is
somebody who belong to the
scheduled caste or she comes from a
particular region that is under developed. So there
is a complex matrix of inequity that needs to be
looked at substantively. And finally, any gender
analysis or an understanding of equity, is an
understanding of power and structures in society
and that is what needs to be communicated to
teachers - the ability to analyze, to understand
structures of inequality, to understand different
dimensions of power because gender analysis is
related to an understanding of power.
International perspectives on feminization of
the teacher workforce
While no officially recognised percentage
threshold exists for when feminisation begins, a
study of the percentage of women in the teaching
profession across the world shows that barring
South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa,
the number of women in the teaching profession
is much higher than their male counterparts. It is
also interesting to note that the numbers go down
as we move from the primary to the secondary
stage, and in regions like the Pacific, the statement
Arab States
Central and Eastern
Europe
Central Asia
South East Asia and
the Pacific
East Asia
Pacific
Latin America and the
Caribbean
North America and
Western Europe
South and West Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
52 59 49 51
82 80 72 74
84 86 65 69
55 60 46 48
55 59 46 47
71 75 57 56
76 78 64 60
81 85 56 61
35 45 35 36
43 44 31 30
Teaching Staff Percentage Female
Primary
Education
School year
ending in
1999 2007 1999 2007
School year
ending in
Secondary
Education
Region
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that the teaching force is feminized actually says
that the primary teaching force is feminized.
If one traces the historical trajectories of countries
showing high levels of feminization today, one
finds that there have been catalytic periods when
women have entered the teaching profession in
large numbers. These have been times when
governments have emphasized universalization,
the education system has expanded considerably,
men have exited the profession as more lucrative
job opportunities have been created for them and
this has created synergy with the larger
understanding in society that teaching is a
womens profession.
It has also been seen that an influx of women into
the teaching profession has been central to
successes in the delivery of UEE and gender
parity in education. However when the
relationship between bringing more and more
women in the teaching force and issues of gender
equality is studied, it seems to be a mixed bag.
Being teachers has definitely empowered women
economically. However, it has also strengthened
It is often asked if the deployment of more
female teachers will lead to improving
education outcomes? In a study in Dominica,
where primary school students, both male
and female were interviewed, what came
through was quite a mixed bag of
perspectives. On one hand a lot of the
children said that they preferred their female
teachers because of the perception that
women are more able to understand them,
understand where they are coming from and
therefore teaching is more sensitive but on
the other hand Dominica also has got a lot
of people who view women teachers as
unable to discipline boys and there is this
idea that more men need to come into the
profession in order to be able to manage boys
particularly as they start to reach puberty.
So in many ways the jury is very much out,
a lot more research needs to done in this
area.
the perception that teaching is profession
naturally meant for women because of their
biological instincts for child rearing and also
because it allows them time to maintain their
personal domestic sphere whilst also earning. It
has also raised various questions of equity within
the feminised workforce. Low salaries have been
meted out to those in the profession as most have
been women and it has been felt that women are
able to work with these salaries. Women numbers
are much larger at the primary level than the
secondary and the absence of women as
principals, heads of departments is in stark
contrast to their large numbers.
Thus, experiences have shown that while
feminization of the teacher workforce encourages
girls to enter school and helps in universalizing
education it does raise others concerns of gender
equity within the feminized work force and about
the perception of the teaching profession itself.
Recommendations
The conference suggested the following ways
forward-
1. Targeted recruitment in deployment of
women teachers should be undertaken,
particularly in rural areas. These should be
supported by appropriate and context
specific incentives and social security
measures for the female workforce.
2. Gender should be mainstreamed across the
curriculum of pre-service teacher education
courses. DIETs, SCERTs and Universities
should also create courses on equity and
gender as compulsory and not optional
papers.
3. Creating handbooks and resource manuals
that link gender and equity issues to subject
specific knowledge would be useful
4. A systematic, graded module for gender
sensitization workshops should be worked
out over a three-year period. These in-service
workshops/trainings should be organized
for all teachers at regular intervals.
5. A school should be made both friendly and
safe for both the girl child and female teachers
and this includes provision of various
amenities like separate toilets for girls,
boundary walls around schools etc.
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Summary
The presentations on gender issues explored
challenges of developing gender sensitive
curriculum and ways to include more women in
the teaching profession across all levels. The
speakers brought out the problematic positioning
of gender in the education space. The teacher
trainings, for example, treat gender in a
mechanical and isolated way by making it an an
attitude issue around girls and women and do
not connect it to other subjects or disciplinary
knowledge. Also, there was a widespread
tendency to visualize progress on gender only
through data/statistics on enrolment/attendance
of the girl child and not qualitatively. There was
also the need to move away from the perception
and practice of treating women as synonymous
with teaching profession and hiring them as a
cure-all for bringing about EFA. It would be useful,
the speakers pointed out, to look at how women
are placed in different managerial positions in
educational institutions in comparison to men.
The working group session on gender issues
brought out the need for a reflective gender policy
environment. The group members recognized
teachers are agents of socialization and therefore
the need to help them understand gender not as a
biological but as a social construct. They argued
that gender policies need to be context specific -
not just at national but at state and district levels.
The group suggested that male gender advocates
be brought into discussion and other members of
the community to resolve issues linked to gender
equity. They suggested gender sensitization for
all teachers and mainstreaming gender education.
To conclude, achieving gender equality in school
education presents various challenges to the
school system. It asks for an improvement in the
numbers of girls entering school, an increase in
the number of female teachers as well as school
premises that are friendly to the girl child. More
importantly it expects the system to consistently
engage with teachers (through trainings, courses,
reading material etc) in a manner that places
gender within the complex web of power
relationships in society as well as analyze their
own assumptions such that school and
classroom experiences for both boys and girls are
transformatory. It also expects more women to
enter the teaching profession, acknowledging its
positive effects on girl child education. But also
realizes that this encourages a gendered notion
of why women should enter this profession and
also requires addressing various equity issues
within a feminized work force.
This session was moderated by Professor Vimala
Ramachandran, National Fellow, NUEPA
Professor Ramachandran was earlier the Founder
& Director of Educational Resource Unit a group
of researchers and practitioners working on
education and empowerment. She was among the
team of architects and first National Project
Director of Mahila Samakhya (1988-1993) a GoI
program on womens education based in the
Department of Education, MHRD. She was
founder and Managing Trustee of Health Watch
a womens health network from 1994 to 2004.
She has published extensively on education,
health, gender issues and womens
empowerment. She has researched and written
on womens and girls education, teacher
development and on systemic barriers to equity
and quality in school education in India. She has
also worked in the South and South East Asia
region on education, gender and development
issues. She has several published books/reports
including:
(2010): Primary teachers in India The twists
and turns of everyday practice. AzimPremji
Foundation, Bangalore. Available at
www.eruindia.org
Gender issues in higher education
Advocacy brief. UNESCO Asia Pacific
Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok.
(2008) Co-authored with Rashmi Sharma:
The Elementary Education System in India:
Exploring institutional structures, processes
and dynamics. Routledge New Delhi.
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1. Dr. Dipta Bhog, Founder Member, Nirantar
Over the last two decades, Dr. Dipta Bhog has
engaged with both womens literacy and
elementary education at the policy level and in
program implementation at the grassroots. She
has been involved in conceptualizing and
developing teaching learning material including
curriculum for teachers as well as learners from a
gender perspective. She has also worked on
developing school textbooks for middle school
state and national boards. She steered a research
study on language and social science textbooks
across 5 states titled Textbook Regimes: A
Feminist Critique of Nation and Identity. The
capacity building of teachers from gender and
equality perspective has been an important area
of her engagement with the education system. She
has been involved in trainings and workshops
with personnel involved in various activities
ranging from planning to the implementation of
programs and curriculum. She was member of
the sub committees on girls education for the 11
th
and 12
th
five year plan. She was also a member of
Gender Focus Group of the National Curriculum
Framework 2005.
2. Ms. Fatimah Kelleher
Fatimah Kelleher is an international consultant
with over ten years experience delivering
programming and research in social and human
development issues. As an educationalist,
Fatimah has worked widely across gender and
education (girl-child access, strategic approaches
for adolescent girls, and boys underachievement);
education for marginalized communities
(minorities, rural and urban poor, nomadic and
other mobile groups); and on teacher provision
(deployment issues, teacher feminization). More
broadly, Fatimah is also a gender equality
specialist, working extensively on womens
enterprise development, gender and trade policy,
maternal and child health, gender and conflict
issues, and gender responsive budgeting. She has
worked for/with a variety of stakeholders,
including the Commonwealth Secretariat, UN
agencies (UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNIFEM),
national governments, international NGOs and
local civil society. Geographically, her work has
spanned Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean.
As an educationalist she has published in several
areas, including on teacher deployment, nomadic
education, boys underachievement and on
women and the teaching profession.
33
Theme 4
Public private partnerships to address the teacher gap
of corporate foundations and NGOs in
addressing the teacher education challenge. The
discussions which were held could be broadly
collated under the following key themes:
Defining public-private partnerships;
Public private partnerships in education -
complementing strengths;
Policies to consider different types of PPP;
The need for transparency and the concerns
of private partners.
Defining PPPs
In recent years the term 'partnership' has come to
be used to cover almost any arrangement,
contractual or otherwise, between private and
public entities. Such a broad usage masks great
differences of motivations, obligations, practices
and potential benefits for partners.
Private partner usually means corporate
organization. However, we need to include NGOs,
civil society organizations, community and
parent bodies in the definition of PPP.
Besides the difference in the type of private
partner, the nature of partnership itself could be
different. In some types of PPP, the government
provides capital and operates jointly with the
private sector or under contract. In either case,
the private provision of public services (in
particular at the level of basic or compulsory
education) falls under publicly-scrutinized
contractual arrangements. The public sector
makes the main policy decisions and sub-
contracts elements of implementation.
Education PPPs that are not contractual are of
two types: 1) from foundations or other non-profit
entities, involving the gift of goods or services in
a particular context or program, or 2) from
corporations, often technology companies, almost
always involving activities that are closely related
to the companies core business. Both of these have
demonstrated both results and potential and it
Introduction
In India, provision of education, both traditionally
and constitutionally, falls in the Governments
domain. In recent years, giant steps have been
taken towards achieving the goal of universal
elementary education - the need now is to improve
the quality of schooling. Given the high cost
involved in providing education (it is
recommended that 6% of GDP be spent on it, the
actual expenditure and budget estimates are
nearer 3%), it is clear that the ultimate
responsibility of providing quality education will
continue to rest with the government. Private
partners can only support the governments
efforts. The number of schools under private,
unaided management is just 173,282 out of
1,250,775 as per latest DISE data and by most
estimates only 20 percent of Indias children are
enrolled in Private schools.
In sharp contrast, over 80 per cent of the teacher
education institutes (TEIs), for preparing
elementary and secondary level teachers, operate
in the private sector. However, they differ widely
in terms of quality. In several states, these are
regarded with suspicion as it is believed that they
award degrees that are undeserved. Further, the
private and public spheres in teacher education
operate nearly independent of each other. The
conference explored the actual and potential
contribution of public-private partnerships (PPPs)
to addressing the teacher gap.
While PPPs have demonstrated excellent results
- there have been examples of innovative
approaches of NGOs to address the teacher gaps
- and strong potential in several areas, they should
not be expected to deliver system-wide change.
PPPs in teacher education can involve teacher
training or provision of services designed to
enhance teacher motivation and performance but
it is often quite difficult to separate out the
specificities of PPPs related to teachers. With this
backdrop, the conference focused on unpacking
the notion of PPP and learnings from experiences
34
needs to be ensured that the original sense of
partnership - shared effort, risk and benefit
remains intact and the operations are
participatory and transparent. Although it is
commonly assumed that the private sector can
do things equally well or better with fewer
resources, this assumption needs to be tested
against reality in each case.
Besides the type of partnership, duration of PPPs
can also be different. PPPs can be both long and
short term. Those of a longer duration are more
complex and need to anticipate any incident that
can affect the successful functioning of the
partnership. In any scenario, the ultimate
responsibility of ensuring timely outcomes rests
with the government as it is regarded as the major
partner.
PPPs in education - Complementing strengths
In India, neither the private nor the public spheres
have been totally successful in education. In
school education, the government schools are
regarded as poor functioning but this is true for
all but the most elite private schools. In teacher
preparation however, the split is along the lines
of pre-service and in-service education with
private players holding the major share in the
former and the government in the latter. This is
not to say that the private sector has not played
any role in the implementation of SSA trainings
or that there are no government TEIs. However,
their role and reach is limited.
The system and mechanism required for
overhauling the teacher education system can
only be provided by the government. While it has
the means and resources, there have been areas
where it has been less successful due to
competency or reach or resources. These are the
gaps which need to be identified and which can
be filled through PPPs provided the right kind of
private partner is chosen.
Private partners too require government support
for their success. Several organizations can only
continue their work if the government builds a
sustenance mechanism for them that is based on
demonstrated capabilities. A well designed PPP
can benefit both partners as well as improve
quality of outcomes.
Specifically, in a PPP aimed at teacher education:
The government can focus on core functions
such as policy and planning, quality
assurance, monitoring the outputs and
outcomes of teacher education institutions.
Since the bulk of finances are committed to
teacher salaries which cannot be met through
student fees, the government can provide the
necessary funds;
The private sector can support the
government structures in developing and
running teacher education preparation
programs - in terms of developing alternative
models for process and systems, new
alternative or enriched materials, capacity
building and research;
The private sector may fund the resource for
leadership and management capacity
building roles in institutions such as the
DIETs and SCERTs;
Research and assessment of PPPs as well as
TEIs can also be carried out by the private
sector.
Clearing Myths about PPPs
PPPs are not the same as privatization. This
is because Public authorities retain control
over service provision and accountability.
There is the fear that the cost of the service
will increase to facilitate private profit
(which arises from the myth that the public
sector can finance services at a lower cost
than the private sector).
Public private partnerships are seen as
informal, hassle-free ways of expanding
resources and therefore opportunity. Both
are true, but to a relatively limited extent. It
is also necessary to keep in mind that as
with any activity affecting public goods,
PPPs need public scrutiny and therefore
regulation. While many see private partners
as a source of finances, in reality their
contribution cannot match those of the public
partner.
The biggest myth regarding PPP is that it
will prove to be the silver bullet that cures
all ills of teacher education. PPP and
privatization are not the panacea of all
problems.
35
Even with those private partners that are socially
conscious, there is a need to further analyze them
on parameters of efficiency and quality. Private
sector is considered to be synonymous to
efficiency, good governance, expertise, results and
quality. This needs to be evidence based rather
than a general given. Only those private players
who have a proven record of capability to deliver
results and experience of working in the field
should be chosen as partners. There are very few
private sector organizations or NGOs that have
solid competence and understanding to
contribute to quality education and only after they
made efforts in understanding issues for years
Policies should take into account different types
of PPP
A clearer policy on PPP will help ensure that only
genuine private partners are able to work with
the government and that there is no misuse by
unscrupulous private players. The policy must
also highlight the monitoring mechanisms which
clearly lay down the different responsibilities of.
Further, instead of a single-approach-fit-all
philosophy, different policies could be drafted
keeping in mind the history and credentials of
the private organisation, the objectives of the PPP
and the respective responsibilities of the partners.
The policies for PPP could also be influenced by
people who are ultimately affected by it. For
example, there should be involvement of teachers
in partnerships decisions regarding their
trainings. Sometimes, the framework for work is
developed by the government and private
partners are fitted into it this should change
into mutual development of work framework.
Priority could be given to private sector partners
that help to improve systemic capacity of existing
higher education institutions or DIETs through
partnering.
Who should have the monitoring and regulatory
powers in the PPP? Most agree that these must
rest with the public partner but there is also the
question of where these powers should be seated.
The document, Teacher Education in India An
agenda for reform, (May 2012) drafted by the MHRD
suggests that the State governments may frame
internal guidelines for regulating practices and areas
of partnerships but ensure that they follow budget
allocations and are approved by the Teacher
Education Advisory Board (TEAB).
The need for transparency and the concerns of
the private partners
A clear framework providing specific areas and
modes of PPP engagement ensures that the
private players work towards the larger overall
plan. Objective defined outcomes (not inputs or
efforts) could be provided and revised yearly if
Are all private partners same?
While deciding on the framework of the PPP,
it is necessary to consider both the nature of
the PPP and the private partner involved.
Private partners span an entire spectrum
from non-profit NGOs or CSOs, Corporate
foundations to for-profit organizations.
Government should look at private sector in
a differentiated manner and treat them
differently while formulating policies for
PPP. They need to distinguish between profit
and non-profit organizations and there
should not be a blanket recommendation for
PPP. Differentiation between socially
conscious/oriented organizations and those
that are business driven should be made.
Working Together
Different parties in PPP bring with them
their own style of working but they all need
to move together to guarantee success. This
is a big challenge as each party has to set
aside their bias. The different partners
(senior government officers, field personnel,
NGOs, private sector companies) have to
respect the other's approach.
This can only be achieved if we recognize
this as an issue and make an effort to find a
solution. This could take the form of a
platform or forum to address challenges in
communication between parties or in
implementation of projects. The aim is to
voice the concerns work together on
transforming the conflicts.
P
P
P
36
necessary. Where the intended outcomes are not
met, support may need to be provided and/or
penalties imposed (for example if targets are not
being repeatedly met and it is not due to
unforeseen circumstances, non-renewal of
contract may be explored). The original agreement
could clearly state these consequences.
Transparency and continuity are key concerns of
private partners. The entire process of PPP from
start to finish be as transparent as possible with
clear directives and platform for information
sharing. This will help all partners to adjust in
advance to any changes in the enabling
environment (on-the-ground conditions well as
changes in the policy/regulatory framework, if
any) and move forward on an informed basis.
Finally, PPPs need not be always viewed with
distrust. Usually such a perception has largely to
do with fear of privatization of education and the
fear that the government is abdicating its
responsibility towards education. The poor
performance of several private teacher training
colleges has also added to this fear. However,
many innovations in education such as inclusive
education, or innovations in teacher education
programs, can be traced to the engagement of
private players.
Recommendations regarding PPP in teacher
education
PPP is a relatively new and largely unresearched
territory in the field of teacher education in India.
The recommendations regarding PPP in teacher
education propose a number of reforms relating
to the manner in which PPPs can be made more
successful. Some of the suggestions which were
voiced in the conference were:
1. The Government should look at private sector
in a differentiated manner and treat them
differently while formulating policies for PPP.
It would be useful to distinguish between
profit and non-profit organizations and not
have a blanket recommendation for all.
Differentiation between socially conscious/
oriented organizations and those that are
business driven must be made.
2. The government could use PPP for building
their capacity. The government should begin
by identifying its own areas which need
strengthening and then identify what kind
of partner will fill the gap and ensure quality
delivery.
3. A committee to define criteria for private
partners in terms of capability, experience
should be set up. They could focus on the
policies for regulation of PPP and ways to
strengthen monitoring.
4. A central PPP Unit in the MHRD may be
established as well as PPP Cells at the state
level that have cross-agency participation as
well as participants for the private sector.
They could also draft key performance
indicators for monitoring of PPP to ensure
achievement of intended results.
Some examples of PPPs in Education
PPPs in school education have been
operating for several years. They may be in
the form of direct involvement of private
partners in day to day school activities such
as provision of midday meals, computer labs
or support for infrastructure improvement.
Private partners have also been invited in
state curriculum and textbook reforms
initiatives. A major example of public
funding for private schools are the grant-in
aid schools which receive up to 95% funding
from the government.
The Centre for Civil Society organizes
vouchers for girls of weaker sections in the
trans-Yamuna area in Delhi. Parents can
choose the private school to send their
children and hand over the voucher which
is then redeemed by the organizers.
In teacher education, the M.A. Elementary
Education is a contact cum on-line, high
quality program of the Tata Institute of
Social Sciences in collaboration with NGOs
- Digantar, Eklavya and Vidya Bhawan
Society. IASE Bangalore is run in
collaboration with the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore. Vidya Bhawan Society
runs the CTE in Udaipur, Rajasthan and
has provided valuable field-based research
on education.
37
5. Workshops and seminars exploring the role
and possibilities of PPP in teacher education
should be organized. Documentation of
development of a resource and training
program outlining good practices in
regulation of PPP would also be useful.
6. There could be more flexibility in
management to private sector in areas such
as teachers pay and conditions, curriculum,
etc. without losing sight of fair pay to allow
them to be effective.
7. Government could provide funding for 50
identified institutions working in education
ensuring quality but allowing them to retain
autonomy.
Summary
The presentations advocated the need for PPPs to
be explored as a solution to the challenges in
teacher education. While the public player in these
partnerships is defined, clearer definition of who
can be the private partner is needed. Both
corporate and non-government organizations
have their own unique skill sets academic and
managerial which can be explored by the State.
But they also have their own requirements and
way of functioning which need to be considered
while drafting the terms and conditions of the
PPP. It needs to be a collaborative engagement
that builds on the strengths of different players
and creates a total greater than the sum of the
parts. PPP can then become possible, meaningful
and effective on credible parameters.
A thought-through Policy for regulation of PPP is
required and monitoring of such partnerships
needs to be improved. The government could look
at private institutions in a differentiated manner
and treat them differently when formulating
policies for PPP. For instance, it needs to
distinguish between profit and non-profit private
organizations or between socially conscious/
oriented organizations and those that are business
driven. Various approaches to PPP need to be
explored but the ultimate responsibility of
providing outcomes of PPP must continue to rest
with the government and private partnerships can
only play a supportive role. PPP can be an
important part of the overall strategy to achieve
quality, but is not a panacea.
The session was moderated by Mr. Ahlin Byll-
Cataria, Executive Secretary Association for the
Development of Education in Africa
Ahlin Byll-Cataria has extensive experience in the
identification, elaboration and development of
education programs with bilateral and
multilateral development agencies. He is currently
the Executive Secretary of the Association for the
Development of Education in Africa (ADEA),
whose mandate is to act as a catalyst of innovative
policies and practices for the qualitative change
of education in Africa. He heads the secretariat in
Tunis (Tunisia) and oversees nine ADEAs
working groups mostly located in other African
countries. He is also a member of the Governing
Board of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong
Learning (UIL), representing Togo. Prior to
becoming ADEAs Executive Secretary in August
2008, Ahlin was Senior Advisor for the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
From 1979 he worked in the field for 10 years as a
trainer of trainers in the Swiss literacy project and
as a deputy representative of SDC in Niger. At
SDC headquarters in Bern, he worked for 10 years
in the West Africa Division, responsible for
program and financial planning, development,
management and evaluation in Mali and Niger.
Most of his career was spent at SDC, where he
also worked for eight years in the education sector,
responsible for the elaboration of basic education
policies and program management. From 1995-
2003, he worked as a consultant in education,
completing mandates in various countries in
Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East
for UNESCO and various NGOs.
1. Dr. Hriday Kant Dewan, Education Advisor,
Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Hriday Kant Dewan was a student of Physics and
taught at a Delhi University College before he
shifted to improving Science Education in rural
elementary schools through better learning
materials, better in-service preparation of teachers
and systems of on-site support. After leaving Delhi
University, he was a part of the group that set up
Eklavya Foundation in M.P. He later worked on
developing a Holistic Primary Education for rural
and urban schools. After working in Eklavya for
P
P
P
38
14 years, he joined Vidya Bhawan Society and is
currently the Educational Advisor. He has been
involved in capacity building of teachers,
preparation of materials for children and teacher
for primary classes and for Science and
Mathematics in elementary classes. He has been
a part of the team designing pre-service and in-
service certificate program for both elementary
and secondary teachers. He has also developed
participative and actively engaging modules for
teacher trainings and worked towards preparing
key Resource Persons for that. He has been
working in teacher development and in
elementary school education system for the last
30 years or more.
2. Dr. Dilip Ranjekar, Chief Executive Officer,
Azim Premji Foundation
Dileep Ranjekar is the founding Chief Executive
Officer of Azim Premji Foundation and has been
associated with the Foundation right from its
ideation. Dileep is a science Graduate and has a
Post Graduate Diploma of Business Management
as well as Masters degree in Personnel
Management and Industrial Relations from Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
He joined Wipro from campus in 1976 and was
deeply involved in building Wipro as a
professional organization that is deeply committed
to Values. While working in the area of Human
Resources, Dileep was significantly responsible
for setting the tone and culture of the organization.
The high point of this effort was when Wipro was
assessed at Level 5 of Maturity on the Carnegie
Mellon of People Capability Maturity Model.
Wipro was the first company in the world to be
assessed at this Level.
Azim Premji Foundation and Azim Premji
University founded by it are not-for-profit
organizations committed to the vision of
contributing towards a just, equitable, humane
and sustainable society. The Foundation has
worked with thousands of government schools
directly and with many state schooling systems
involving over hundred and fifty thousand
schools.
3. Alexandra Draxler, International Expert on
PPPs in Education
Alexandra Draxler is an education specialist who
worked for many years for UNESCO. She was the
Executive Secretary of the International
Commission on Education for the Twenty-first
Century (Delors Commission) whose report was
published in more than thirty languages. She is
now an independent consultant working with
private and public sector clients on PPPs,
education sector planning and the use of
technologies in education. She is the author of
New Partnerships for EFA: Building on
Experience and several other articles and papers
on the same subject.
References:
1. http://jurisonline.in/2010/11/public-
private-partnership-in-india/
Public Private Partnership in India by
KRISHNA KUMAR, 11 Nov, 2010 (accessed
on 5th July 2012).
2. Teacher education in India An agenda for
reform. Department of School Education and
Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, GoI, May 2012.
3. Draft - Report of the Sub-Group on Public
Private Partnership in School Education for
the 12
th
Five Year Plan, Department of School
Education and Literacy, MHRD, GoI, October
2011.
39
Theme 5
Inclusive education: Teachers for children with special needs
needs of children with diverse impairments and
how environmental and attitudinal barriers
prevent them from learning and living a fuller
life, the ability to nurture all aspects of personality
and development, promoting self reliance, would
be the expectations from a regular teacher. The
second change required is at the macro level -
policy and legislation, at the local, state, national,
international level - as it impacts the practice at
the micro level.
Changes needed in the teacher education
curriculum and policy
Paradigm shifts in Inclusive Education - rights,
not charity
The shifting approaches to understanding and
defining disability have translated into diverse
policies and practices and different
responsibilities for the state. The policy and
programs reflect two primary approaches or
discourses: Disability as an individual pathology
and disability as a social pathology.
Policies that are ideologically based on the human
rights model start by identifying barriers that
restrict disabled persons participation in society.
This has shifted the focus in the way
environments are arranged. In education, for
example, where individuals were formerly labeled
as not for education, the human rights model
examines the accessibility of schools in terms of
both physical access (ramps, etc.) and pedagogical
strategies.
Disability and policy in India - Existing policies
and framework
Trends in provisions in India reflect that the
leading policy before the 1970s had been towards
that of segregation or social exclusion, when the
disabled were kept in isolation and were
marginalized. A new approach to positioning
disability, the human rights model looks at
Introduction
The policy of inclusion in our education system
is aimed at the participation of all children in the
learning processes and activities in and outside
schools. About 70 million children in the world
are out of school and out of those about a third
are Children with Special Needs (CWSN) and of
those 80 percent are from developing countries.
In E9 countries, there are 15 million CWSN. Any
system of education is incomplete without
inclusion of these children. E9 countries therefore
have the responsibility of the education of these
children to take us closer to the realization of the
EFA goals.
The role of the teachers in achieving this goal is to
encourage, support and be humane in teaching-
learning situations to enable learners to discover
their talents, realize their physical and intellectual
potentialities to the fullest, and to develop
character and desirable social and human values
to function as responsible citizens.
The session on inclusion highlighted the
following elements:
The challenges and changes needed in the
teacher education curriculum for inclusive
education;
Identifying practices of effective and
meaningful collaboration between teachers,
parents and school staff to promote inclusive
education and how NGOs can contribute;
Changing role of special educators/resource
teachers in facilitating inclusion of CWSN in
education.
Since education of CWSN would no longer be the
priority of the special education system alone but
that of the general education system itself,
therefore changes at various levels are needed.
The first change required is at the micro level - the
level of classroom and school values and culture.
This would entail a change in the attitude of
teachers towards children with diverse needs and
backgrounds. Sensitivity towards the educational
40
disability as an important dimension of human
culture, and it affirms that all human beings are
born with certain inalienable rights. It is based
on the principle of respect for difference and
acceptance of disability as part of human diversity
and humanity, as disability is a universal feature
of the human condition.
The change in approach from the charity model
to the human rights model resulted in different
policy and practice. In the 1970s, the Integrated
Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) scheme
was launched by the Central government for
providing educational opportunities to learners
with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in regular
schools. A cardinal feature of the scheme was the
liaison between regular and special schools to
reinforce the integration process and five days
orientation program for general teachers and three
days for administrators. Integration became the
key to the problem and responsible for a major
paradigm shift as for the first time it brought the
disabled from isolation into the community.
However the system continued to function as
before, without any changes to help the CWSN
adapt to it. The CWSN were just placed into the
system, there was no change in the approach, in
the curriculum or in the teachers attitude, and
their welfare was not the concern. Statistics show
that although the integration of learners with SEN
gathered some momentum, the coverage under
this scheme remained inadequate. There was a
clear need for fuller access of children with SEN
to all educational opportunities.
The government has also initiated certain policy
initiatives for students with disability. In 1987
National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) joined hands with UNICEF
and launched Project Integrated Education for
Disabled Children (PIED) to strengthen the
integration of learners with disabilities into
regular schools. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan also
emphasized training of resource teachers, general
teachers, Aanganwadi workers, parents, Head
teachers and also of care givers for home based
education
Despite the constitutional provisions and the
policy measures, much progress is needed. Policy
distortion and fragmentation due to factors like
Constitutional and Legal Obligations
Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 This act came into existence through an Act of
Parliament with the basic objective of standardizing teacher education curricula in the disability
sector and also to recognize institutes to run special education teacher preparation courses. The
curriculum developed by the RCI aims at developing necessary skills in teachers in core areas,
specialization in school subjects and expertise in disability.
Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995- Educate CWSN in an appropriate environment till 18
years. It emphasises the need to prepare a comprehensive education scheme that will make
various provisions for transport facilities, removal of architectural barriers, supply of books,
uniforms, and other materials, the grant of scholarships, suitable modification of the examination
system, restructuring of curriculum, providing amanuensis to blind and low vision students,
and setting up of appropriate fora for the redressal of grievances.
Right to Education Act, 2009- focuses on inclusive education, where children of diverse socio-
economic backgrounds and abilities are encouraged to study together;
National Frameworks
NCF 2005 emphasizes that teachers must be trained to address the learning needs of all children
including those who are marginalized and disabled.
National Focus Group 2005 highlights the need for gearing all teacher education programs to
developing pedagogical skills required in inclusive classrooms to make IE a reality.
NCFTE 2009 recommends that teacher education institutions will need to reframe their program
courses to include the perspective, concept and strategies of inclusive education.
41
dependency on NGOs, lack of political will has
resulted in the non-inclusion of disabled children.
Thus this systemic failure has resulted in the
violation of human rights with 90 percent CWSN
and their families being without any services and
only 10 percent being actually covered (GoI 1994).
Identifying and overcoming barriers
A deeper probe reveals the following lacunae in
the efforts:
The roots of these initiatives are not based on
inclusive ethos. Since the vision and values
of these schools are not in sync, the teachers
have a I will have to do rather than will do
or can do attitude and are not ready to cater
to CWSN without special educators;
Short term introductory training only works
to the extent of creating awareness whereas
long term training (90 days) fails to build the
skills for inclusive classrooms;
Collaboration between parents, the
community and schools is missing. On one
hand the parents are apprehensive about
sending the children to schools as teachers
are not well trained and on the other hand
there is lack of resources and resource persons
to work in this area;
Pro-active approach to identifying barriers
and finding practical solutions are missing.
A sincere examination of the situation reveals that
it is lack of our own understanding of a childs
education/growth needs that becomes a barrier
in the learning process. The social aspect of
development has considerable bearing on the
cognitive development of the child. Thus if these
children are not socially accepted and respected,
if their diversities are not recognized then all their
higher cognitive functions are also affected. There
are environmental barriers in the form of
architectural designs that restrict CWSN from
accessing spaces, like the absence of ramps and
so on. There are systemic barriers which refer to
the hindrances at the level of policy making.
Another major barrier in the way of inclusion on
a macro level is structural. There are two
ministries addressing school needs of disabled
children, the Ministry of SJE and the Ministry of
HRD. The different agenda of these two Ministries
causes a failure in the system and leaves millions
out. There is lack of adequate number of training
centers that teach students about disability and
how disabled students can be included into
mainstream education. There is also a severe
dearth of appropriate courses for training on
how to include all children into mainstream
schools. Not just the government but the NGOs
efforts remain fragmented largely due to a sense
of insecurity about their funding position.
RTE - a new definition and meaning of inclusion
The Right to Education Act 2009, calls for focus
on inclusive education, where children of diverse
socio-economic backgrounds and abilities are
encouraged to study together; it mandates a
curriculum that is in line with Constitutional
values; it seeks to move towards a system of
learning that is free from the pressure of exams.
Thus, it is one of the first inclusion oriented acts.
Inclusive education ideally means attending to
diverse needs of every child (differing in ability,
ethnicity, socio-economic background etc.) in the
same classroom or school setting. Being Inclusive
therefore refers to taking into consideration not
only physically and mentally disabled children
but also other children amongst the poorer
segments of society who face barriers to learning,
be it the girl child or the socially and economically
disadvantaged child. Inclusion is beyond
disability, it is effective education in which every
child is a special child, it is a process and
participation, not just a program or enrollment.
While at the macro level, inclusion remains a
complex and controversial issue which tends to
generate heated debates, surrounded with
uncertainty, there are success stories that prove
the effectiveness of inclusive education, not just
for CWSN but also for those without. The question
is no longer whether CWSN can be included in
the general system but how they can be included.
Changing role of (special) educators
It is required that every teacher, not just the special
educator, should be able to cater to the diverse
needs of these children, both educational and
psychological. The following points would help
in achieving such a setup:
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De-professionalization: Every teacher needs
to be equipped with the ability and capacity
to teach all children including those with
SEN. Abolition of separate systems of training
of teachers for mainstream children and for
children with impairments of locomotor,
sensory and cognitive impairments is
imperative. A resource support team from
the special education to ensure retention of
children in schools could help. NGOs and
special schools could play an important role
as Resource Support Teams.
Compulsory component in teacher education:
At present, there are no specific provisions in
the in-service programs of the DIETs. The
Teacher Training Courses at all levels,
therefore, need to emphasize the study of
disability.
Compulsory component in ICDS: Teacher
training courses like B.Ed. usually have an
optional paper on education of CWSN, with
very few takers. Every training program for
preschool education should have a
component on inclusive education. The
duration of the training program for
Anganwadi workers should be increased
from the present 28 days to focus more on
disability. This would help in the
identification of SEN children at an early age
to be able to help them cope with challenges
in later life.
Shouldering / sharing responsibilities - the
collaborative approach
It has been seen that CWSN often become the
victims of the attitudes of their own families and
community. Thus, the sensitization, orientation,
and training of parents, caretakers, and other
stakeholders becomes imperative. It will build a
support system for the school. Other students of
the school can become a huge resource if they are
properly informed and oriented. NGOs can
contribute through their knowledge and
experience
Collaboration with other teachers and relevant
staff for support to meet the individual needs of
the students is important. Teachers, parents, and
others can collaborate in determining and meeting
the needs of any student. Creating a community
of learners, in which all members see themselves
as both teachers and learners, enables children,
teachers, and parents to develop shared
understandings about what is important to know
and why it is important. Such collaboration can
become a reality through:
1. Demystification of disability that can be
carried out through sharing of information
and techniques with parents, families and
teachers. This helps remove commonly held
myths like disability is infectious or that
inclusion requires a continuous support of
well-resourced specialist services, that
Anganwadi workers will not be able take
proper care of disabled children.
2. Deinstitutionalization, involving moving
away from specialized settings to community
settings. For example, by creating resource
Promoting inclusion, celebrating
diversity
There have been several initiatives both by
the governmental as well as non-
governmental institutions towards bridging
the gap between the special and general
education sector. NCERT started the
following training courses aimed at
inclusion:
Pre-service courses at RIEs that gives
inputs on CWSN with a focus on
Inclusive Education in B.Ed (Bhopal,
Ajmer) and Inputs in M.Ed. (Mysore,
Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal and Ajmer)
Specific in-service training programs
which look at capacity building of
teacher educators through EDUSAT
ADAPT (Able Disabled All People
Together) formerly The Spastics Society of
India, is an NGO which was founded in
1972. It provides service including
assessment, infant stimulation, therapy,
counseling, inclusive education, skills
training and job placement, continuum of
support services and home management
programs for children and young adults
with disability
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support for parents through Mahila mandals
(PTAs) that create awareness about nutrition
and hygiene.
3. Decentralization of services through training
programs and alliances.
Recommendations
The following recommendations were
highlighted:
1. At present, special education is under the
MOSJE, Anganwadi workers under ministry
of child development whereas regular
teachers are under MHRD. This creates a
dichotomy and fragmentation. It is
recommended that the MHRD should plan
teacher development for teachers across the
board so that all may be educated in the
principles of inclusive education.
2. All pre-service teacher education programs
at the pre-school, elementary and secondary
levels should have a compulsory paper on
inclusive education. This could be in the form
of a module which includes practicum/
internship. It should be supported with the
requisite human and material resources. If it
is not followed, de-recognition of that
institution should be a punitive action.
3. Synergies between government organizations,
non-governmental organizations and civil
society organizations working in the field of
education and teacher education should be
developed both at the central and grass root
levels.
4. All monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
for teacher education to include a component
on inclusive education. In fact, inclusion
should be at the core of all developmental
policies of all programs and all interventions
at all levels. There should not be a need to
create a separate or special forum or policy
for inclusive education, it should underlie
every intervention.
5. There should be regular continuous in-
service progress in inclusive education.
Specific incentives such as awards should
be instituted for innovative work or research
in this field. This would encourage research
not just by organizations but also by
practitioners.
6. Most special teachers in the country are
working in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
but they are still treated as project staff and
not absorbed into the existing system. This
creates a sense of exclusion of special teachers
from the general system. This may be
overcome only by creating a cadre of special
teachers at the State level or by earmarking
ways and career paths to include them in the
general system.
7. Special schools can become Resource Centres
as well as Model Demonstration Hubs to
actually demonstrate inclusion within each
context engaging with governments existing
programs. These Model Demonstrative
Centres of Inclusive Education can fan out
all over the country.
8. Higher Education should, like other countries
across the world, include a special subject of
Disability Studies which should move away
from the current medical entrenchment of
dysfunctioning individual to the social model
of an enabling environment.
9. The MHRDs findings, on integrated
education in 25 polytechnics across the
country, needs to be disseminated to all of
the concerned institutions and the lessons
learnt therein should be incorporated in the
new initiatives to be taken.
10. Budgetary support is critical at all these levels
and in all these recommendations.
11. All policies and programs existing at the
central and state levels should have a
component of disability inclusion.
Summary
The session on inclusive education focused on
best practices in teacher development for working
with children with single/multiple disabilities
and sensitizing teachers towards issues linked
to child protection. The speakers stressed that the
well being of country was related to the well being
of its marginalized sections. It was highlighted
how the attitudinal-environmental and social
factors, and not their disabilities, were the real
barriers to preventing such children from leading
full lives. From the 1990s there has been a shift in
the policy environment from social exclusion to
inclusion, that is, viewing such children as
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valued, contributing citizens of their
communities. It was felt that there was a critical
need to have orientation programs for school
management, teachers, parents and other staff
members to deepen the understanding of mind
including cognition, emotions and motivation
and their impact on our learning process. The
NGOs working in the field of disability could be
of assistance as resource centres. The speakers
argued for the abolition of separate systems of
training of teachers for mainstream children and
children with disabilities and mainstreaming
special education in TE.
In working group discussion, it was suggested
that teacher education (including Special
Education) should be under the Ministry of HRD.
At present, special educators are governed by the
Rehabilitation Council of India (Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment) and this was creating
fragmentation. There was also the need to develop
synergies between government organizations and
civil society organizations working in this field.
The group recommended that all pre-service
teacher programs at the pre-elementary and
secondary levels must have compulsory papers
on inclusive education along with the requisite
human and material resources. Finally, all
policies and programs existing at the central and
state levels should have a component of disability
inclusion. It concluded on the positive note that it
is very much doable. What it needs is conviction
and courage to take bold steps. Openness to
experiment with new ideas, determination to
evolve implementation strategies and
accountability are important for bringing
necessary changes in the system. It is worth doing
as it is a matter of preparing future generations
for an inclusive society where diversities are
accepted and respected.
The session was moderated by Dr. M.N.G. Mani,
Chef Executive Officer, ICEVI.
Dr. M.N.G. Mani served as the Principal of
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of
Education, Coimbatore for many years. He has
published extensively in teacher education,
inclusive education, and research. He has served
as a member of many professional committees of
RCI, NCTE, NCERT, UGC, and IGNOU and also
worked as a consultant of UNESCO, UNICEF, and
WHO. He is currently serving as the Chief
Executive Officer of the International Council for
Education of People with Visual Impairment
(ICEVI) and Executive Director of the Global
Campaign on Education for All Children with
Visual Impairment (EFA-VI).
1. Dr. Shanti Auluck, Director & President,
Muskaan.
Dr. Auluck was formerly, Reader, Dept. of
Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi
University. Taught psychology at LSR from 1976
to 2005 and has a deep interest in psychology
and Indian Philosophical Thought. She has
presented papers on psychology and Vedanta in
several seminars and conferences organized by
NCERT, Delhi University, Aurobindo Society as
well as international conferences. She also
published articles in books and journals. She took
voluntary retirement from the college in 2005 to
devote full time to Muskaan.
2. Prof. Anita Julka, Head, Department of
Education of Groups with Special Needs and
Inclusive Education Cell, NCERT, New Delhi
She has been involved in various research,
training, development and extension activities of
the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, IEDSS & RMSA, GoI.
She has also been a member of various committees,
the most important being Position Paper, National
Focus Group, NCERT on Education of Children
with Special Needs, National Steering Committee,
NCERT for renewal of National Curriculum
Framework, 2005, Development of the
Comprehensive Action Plan for including
Children and Youth with Disabilities in
Education, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, 2005, Textbook Review Committee,
NCERT, Working Group for the XII Plan for
Empowerment of Disabled, Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment, National Resource
Group, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Research Advisory
Committee, National Institute of Visually
Handicapped and Proposal Grant Committee
MHRD for IEDSS. She has published books and
articles in number of International and national
45
journals, the most recent publication is Meeting
Special Needs in Schools: A Manual, NCERT.
3. Dr. Mithu Alur, Founder Chairperson, ADAPT
(formerly The Spastics Society of India)
For over 36 years, Dr. Mithu Alur has been closely
involved in education, healthcare and
employment for women and children leading to
social change, legislation and social policy.
Professionally, a Doctor of Philosophy and policy
analyst from the Institute of Education, University
of London, her thesis analysis Indian Government
educational policy for children with disability.
The reason for her involvement in disabled
children is daughter Malini, who is disabled.
Malini has done two Masters in Gender Studies
and in Information Technology from University
of London. Dr. Alur set up the first model of the
Spastics Society of India in Mumbai in 1972 with
the help of Indira Gandhi with Nargis Dutt as the
first Patron. At the State level, Dr. Alur has been
involved in community based projects involving
State and Municipal authorities, non-
governmental agencies, the private sector and
international agencies. At the National level she
has helped various regions in the country to set
up services. Today ADAPTs first model has been
replicated in 16 of the 31 States of the country. In
1992, Mithu and her colleagues launched the
National Centre for Cerebral Palsy (NCCP) in
Mumbai.
Reference
National Curriculum Framework 2005, Position
Paper, National Focus Group on Education of
Children With Special Needs.
Event Brochure/Website (www.teindia.nic.in)
ADAPT website (www.adaptssi.org/home.html)
Invisible Children - A study of Policy Exclusion ,
Viva books Pvt. Ltd., Alur (1999).
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Theme 6
Monitoring and evaluation of teacher policy reforms
supervision by District Education Officer, Block
Education Officer and the DIET faculty. As these
people are overloaded with a large number of
schools and colleges, it results in M&E consisting
solely of ticking a checklist. This model is far less
efficient at academic supervision and more
towards checking infrastructure, faculty absence,
payment of salaries on time or mission specific
objectives. The self-reporting form used for the
institution is also focused on administrative tasks
and does not provide academic feedback to
teachers.
The secondary data which is collected also reflects
a more quantitative and infrastructure related
approach to monitoring. The DISE data base, for
instance, has 20 teacher related indicators
focused on their numbers, 15 facilities indicators
and 23 enrollment based indicators. The reports
brought out by National University of Education
Planning and Administration (NUEPA) also lack
understanding of State-specific factors. The
specific issues with NUEPAs annual exercise
pertain to (a) vague definitions and estimation of
education indicators; disaggregation not
available in the analysis and reports; (b) co-
relational analysis not available and (c)
dissemination of data for further use. (Fifteenth
Joint Review Mission,2012)
The periodic meeting with state governments and
annual meeting of the Teacher Education Audit
Board has not yielded adequate results to monitor
the performances of the TEIs. Absence of
performance indicators of these institutions fails
to capture the teacher change process. It also does
not allow the institutes themselves to gauge their
own progress and status.
Understanding the teacher education context
Before one begins to strengthen the monitoring
mechanism for teachers, teacher education
programs and institutions in India, some aspect
of the structure of teacher education (TE) might
need attention. At present, TE in India is
Introduction
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of teacher
policy reforms has become critical in the past few
years with emphasis on growth of the teacher
herself. Once the required number of teachers has
been appointed, the quality of the teaching and
the teacher assumes significance. This brings in
the concept of accountability. In India, for
instance, teacher absenteeism continues to be a
major issue. As compared to this, in countries like
Finland, the phrase teacher accountability is
rarely invoked because the system tends to attract
and retain the right kind of teachers.
A key aspect of M&E involves responding to the
concerns of poor quality teacher education. In the
1990s, a large number of countries had closed down
Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) offering sub-
standard education. M&E mechanism therefore is
a critical process not just to ensure quality control
but also to guide the path of such organizations.
As a large number of countries struggle to balance
public budget, focus shifts to effectiveness of
public investment and interests. Finally, there has
been a rise in alliances between the government
and private organizations and an effective system
of M&E would be useful in ensuring and
maintaining quality.
Besides highlighting the growing importance of
effective M&E mechanisms, the presentations
focused on the following key themes:
The conventional approach to M&E requires
change;
Understanding the teacher education context
for M&E;
Evaluating teachers the current context and
issues;
Issues and challenges in monitoring TEIs.
The conventional approach to M&E requires
change
The existing approach involves school
inspections, college inspections and academic
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completely woven around the stage of school that
the teacher is expected to teach. For instance, the
Diploma in Elementary Education which is
required for teaching at elementary school level
is insulated from the Bachelors in Education
required for teaching higher grades. This prevents
a more holistic understanding of what TE could be.
Hence, instead of a specialization for teaching a
particular grade during the later part of a TE
program, the whole program is structured around
the grades at which the teacher would teach. There
is an assumption that the lower the stage of
education, the lesser the qualifications needed.
This also creates barriers in terms of career
progression. The elementary teachers are put on
a lower scale than secondary which are in turn
considered on a lower scale than higher
secondary and so on. To begin with, policy
initiatives need to address such inequities.
It would be important to keep in consideration
that most of the teacher education policies have
been shaped by the SSA norms. During the last
two decades EFA movement has witnessed series
of Centrally Sponsored Schemes with substantive
resource allocation for school improvement and
changes in teacher education and teacher
management. Being programmatic interventions
with a different focus has however led to framing
of policies which ended up diluting teacher
education.
Evaluating teachers the current context and
issues
There is an urgent need to evolve norms for good
teacher performance. Further, these norms need
to be evolved keeping in mind the whole school
system and the teacher education policies and
perspectives used in developing the program
structure. For instance, there is little emphasis
today on improving the quality of intake of
students in a D.Ed program. Or, the specific
pedagogical implications of higher secondary
schooling are often bypassed in the area of teacher
education. All these would have an impact on
defining who is a good teacher.
A good way to start evolving the norms would be
to enlist the help of teachers themselves in such a
process. Not only would it bring more ownership
to the process, it would also bring a richer sense
of what is happening on the ground and the
challenges that teachers face. These norms could,
for instance, relate to relationships with children
and young people, team work skills, personal
development, professional knowledge, teaching
and learning, assessment and monitoring,
knowledge of subjects and curriculum, literacy,
numeracy and technology.
The concept of teacher growth too has to be
considered in M&E. The evaluation measures
today assess the same parameters every year like
knowledge and skill levels of a teacher and/or
the student scores which count towards the
teachers career. They could be made more
multidimensional and contextualized based on
prior learning and move beyond cognitive
changes to include affective changes. The softer
criteria like the change in the way the teacher
views herself, her identity, belief patterns and
ways of teaching also needs to be captured besides
hard data on knowledge. Similarly, there is also a
need to develop a professional code of ethics for
teachers. It would be useful if these were actually
developed and monitored by the Teacher
Associations themselves.
The Teacher Eligibility Tests, now mandated by
the Center have become a critical evaluation
mechanism for teacher certification and
regulating the entry of teachers into the school
Countries like UK, for instance, have
developed rigorous documentation on
Professional Teacher Standards and the
Qualified Teacher Status with varying level
of expertise (example, core, post threshold,
excellent teacher, advanced skills teacher)
and detailed descriptions on what each a
teacher at each level looks like and how their
level may be assessed.
Similarly stages in professional
development for teachers have also been
conceptualized. For instance, in another
country the teacher can move towards other
roles designing and producing teaching -
learning materials, becoming a mentor,
holding workshops for other teachers. Such
roles provide alternate career paths.
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system. Although a useful measure to ensure that
only quality teachers enter schools and colleges,
such tests need to go beyond asking similar
questions as those posed in the teacher education
institution examinations. Being a paper and
pencil test, they also suffer from the disadvantage
of providing only a one-sided picture of the teacher
in terms of her verbal and written skills and only
about subject matter.
Also, there is fear that private colleges might
reduce themselves to TET shops attracting
students on the basis of their pass-ratio in TET
than the quality of education being offered. The
Teacher Educators, too, could end up teaching
for the TET than what would be useful for the
new teacher when she enters the classroom. The
TET as the filter might also make useless the efforts
towards revamping of teacher education
curriculum and structure. This poses the question
whether we need TET as a licensure kind of filter
or a national level entry exam into a teacher
education program.
There is the need for stronger and well-refined
tools to capture the change process within the
teacher. Indicators need to be developed which
could develop such growth since it is slow. Such
indicators would depend instead on a conceptual
framework of teacher growth and could include
elements of teacher learning, thinking, feelings,
cognition and knowledge.
Similar to the Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation measures being applied in schools,
the teachers also could benefit by having their
overall growth assessed regularly. Their formative
assessment would support them during their
tenure for continuous improvement and
summative assessment, at the end of every two
years, could help arrive at whether the teacher
feels stagnated, bored or burnt-out. Finally, the
monitoring and evaluation of teachers needs to
be through a participative social dialogue instead
of through a top-down inspection process.
Issues and challenges in monitoring TEIs
The quality of TEIs has become a concern of late.
Institutions with fewer and lesser trained faculty
and poor infrastructure facilities have sprung up
especially in the private sector. Hence their quality
needs to be monitored rigorously. An effective
monitoring mechanism would ensure the poor
quality TEIs are weeded out. Further, the
regulatory bodies need to move beyond recognition
towards quality assurance through accreditation
of TEIs. Standards could be evolved for teacher
certification itself which could help maintain
quality levels of both teachers and TEIs.
Closely tied to the monitoring of the TEI is
answering the question of duration of the teacher
education programs itself. At present, the D.Ed.
is usually a two year program located in a public
or private college monitored by the DIET while
the B.Ed. is a one year program usually affiliated
within the university. There are variations among
different states on the duration of such programs.
There also exist four year integrated programs
which offer a subject specialization along with
teaching certifications. The exit norms for students
could be evolved which would allow them the
flexibility to become teachers after they complete
their graduation. Evolving standards for teacher
education programs would also help TEIs in
situating their role in improving quality.
Finally, when evolving the policies for TEIs, the
specificities of each state must be taken into
consideration. The policy should also look at
teacher education for primary, secondary and
higher secondary stages in comprehensive
manner.
Recommendations
The conference suggested the following ways
forward:
1. Dedicated evidence based research must
inform all sectors of teacher policy reforms
commensurate with the contextual realities
of a country, including design of relevant
instructions for monitoring and evaluation
of reform parameters.
2. A comprehensive framework for monitoring
and evaluation of teacher policy reforms
including measurable performance
indicators must be developed. These
indicators must be arrived through research
and not overly influenced by program focus
areas.
3. Rigorous documentation on professional
teacher standards and the qualified teacher
49
status with varying level of expertise (for
example basic, excellent teacher, advanced
skills teacher) and detailed descriptions on
what a teacher at each level looks like and
how their level may be assessed. These
must be supplemented with developing a
professional code of ethics. Teacher
associations could come forward in
designing such standards and ethics.
4. Tools for evaluation of teachers and teacher
educators including self evaluation should
be promoted. Further, there is a need for critical
dialogue that involves teachers and teachers
educators evaluation, capable of renewal in
the light of lived practices. The assessment of
teachers and teacher educators must involve
observation, self evaluation, portfolios, school
evaluation, external evaluations,
performance indicators, students evaluation,
and student scores to get a more
comprehensive view of teacher growth.
5. The Teacher Eligibility Test and its impact
on the quality of teaching in TEIs needs to be
researched. It would be useful to think of an
entrance test or process for admission into a
teacher education institute.
6. Clear objectives and indicators for career
progression (career advance schemes) for
teacher and teacher educators working in
DIETs and SCERTs is important.
7. Teacher Education Institutes need to be
monitored rigorously. An effective monitoring
mechanism would ensure that the poor
quality TEIs are weeded out. Further, the
regulatory bodies need to move beyond
recognition towards quality assurance
through developing standards for
accreditation of TEIs.
8. Teacher and TE policies should be
administratively, professionally and
financially viable. TE policy should be
framed within larger educational policies
reforms.
9. A toolkit for countries to design context
specific monitoring and evaluation teacher
policy framework can be developed.
Summary
The session on Monitoring and Evaluation
explored designing the instruments for
assessment and evaluation and a scheme for
comprehensive and continuous monitoring and
evaluation. The speakers highlighted that
although monitoring and evaluation was a
technical process, it was also a process of social
dialogue, interactions with the people and their
environment. Further, a system of evaluation
should go beyond quantitative indicators and
capture the softer elements of teacher growth.
There was also a critical need to have better
understanding of impact of open and distance
learning for pre-service TE and about tools
important for monitoring, example, accreditation
and certification of Teachers and TE institutions.
In the working group discussion, it was suggested
that teachers must do their own evaluation and
reflect on their own performance. Further, a
comprehensive and contextual framework for
monitoring and evaluation of teacher policy
reforms including measurable performance
indicators needs to be developed. This could be
done through toolkits. They also agreed on the
need for a critical dialogue that involves teachers
and teacher Educators evaluation in the light of
lived practices in the classroom.
This session was moderated by Mr. David
Atchoarena, Director, UNESCO Division for
Teachers and Higher Education.
Prior to holding this post, David served as Senior
Program Specialist at the International Institute
for Educational Planning (IIEP), UNESCO, Paris
where he was heading the Training and
Education Programs Unit of IIEP, including the
IIEP Masters Program in Educational Planning
and Management (2006-2009). Before joining the
Institute in 1991, he served as Charg de
Mission at the National Agency for Lifelong
Education (ADEP) of the French Ministry of
Education, and as Project Coordinator in the
Ministry of Finance and Planning, in Saint Lucia.
David Atchoarena is also Special Professor at the
University of Nottingham (UK). He holds a
Doctorate in Economics from the University of
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Paris I (Panthon-Sorbonne). His work covers
several areas related to educational planning and
policies, such as planning techniques and tools,
technical and vocational education and training,
lifelong learning, and education and rural
development.
1. Prof. A.K. Sharma, Former Director, NCERT
Prof. A.K. Sharmas academic career spans over
the Punjab University, Chandigarh (1961-74) and
the National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT), New Delhi (1974-99),
which institutions he served in various capacities.
During his tenure with the NCERT, he was
associated with the work on the All India
Educational Surveys, Surveys of Educational
Research and Innovations and curriculum
development in science education, teacher
education and distance education.
He has been consultant to the World Bank,
Commonwealth of Learning (CoL), Educational
Consultant India Ltd. (Ed.CIL). He is a
contributing author to Cross National Policies
and Practices on Computers in Education, an
IEA Study across 20 countries. Prof. Sharma was
a member of the Task Force on Secondary and
Teacher Education for the development of
Program of Action (PoA) to the National Policy
on Education (NPE) 1986/1992. He was one of a
3-member committee to develop the conceptual
document on District Institutes of Education and
Training (DIETs), Colleges of Teacher Education
(CTEs) including Institutes of Advanced Studies
in Education (IASEs), components of a centrally-
sponsored scheme on teacher education. He was
Chairman of the Sub-committee of the Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on drafting
the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2009 and the draft Model Rules to
the Act.
2. Prof. Pranati Panda, Professor, Department
of Comparative Education and International
Cooperation, NUEPA
Prof. Pranati Panda has M.Phil. and Ph.D. degree
in (Education), International Certificate Courses
on Education Sector Diagnosis, IIEP, Paris;
Certificate Course on Child Rights, Ghent
University, Belgium; and was on the research and
teaching faculty of National Institute of Public
Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCED)
and National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT). She has authored books/
chapter in books and several research papers and
articles published in national and international
journals, developed monographs, self-learning
modules, teacher training packages; specializes
in teacher and teacher education policy, teacher
management issues, school based in-service
education and training of teachers, class size ,
school quality and safety, human rights education
and education for peace. She was consulted by
the United Nation High Commissioner for Human
Rights, APCEIU,UNESCO, World Bank,
HURIGHTS, Japan and serves as resource person
for Asia in general and South Asia in particular
for training and development of training
packagesfor teachers. Dr. Panda is the member of
several official committees on education
constituted by Govt. of India and different
national institutions. She is also editorial board
member of International and National journals.
3. Professor Rama Mathew Dean, Faculty of
Education, University of Delhi
Professor Rama Mathew previously taught at the
Central Institute of English and Foreign
Languages, Hyderabad where she was involved
in English language education with specific focus
on language teacher education and assessment
for more than twenty years. She was Project
Director of a national curriculum evaluation study
(1993-98) called the CBSE-ELT Curriculum
Implementation Study, which concretized the
notion of teacher as researcher in actual classroom
contexts. She also coordinated a project on
mentoring in collaboration with the Open
University, UK, under the UKIERI scheme. She is
presently coordinating the English Language
Proficiency Course for the students of Delhi
University in which loose-leaf materials meant
for adult learners have been developed and
students take proficiency tests at three levels that
assess all the skills of the language. She has been
an invited plenary speaker at several conferences
in India and other countries including the
51
conference of the International Association of
Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
(IATEFL). Her current research interests include
teaching English to adult learners, teacher
education, and proficiency assessment including
online assessment.
4. Mr. Shailendra Sigdel, Statistical Cluster
Advisor, New Delhi
He started career as an education statistician in
1995 from the Ministry of Education in Nepal and
worked with various development agencies on
education statistics, monitoring and assessments.
He worked with the World Bank, UNICEF, Danish
Development Agency (DANIDA), Save the
Children and many research institutions as a
consultant and employee on education planning
and monitoring expert. He also worked as visiting
fellow in Kathmandu University for some time.
Since 2009 he is working as Statistical Advisor
for South Asia in UNESCO Institute for Statistics
(UIS) in New Delhi. UIS is a specialized agency of
UNESCO on statistics. His current role is to
provide technical assistance to the member states
on statistics and evidence based monitoring on
UNESCO minded areas- Education, Culture, S&T
and Communication and Information.
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Closing session
Recommendations and Conclusions
Dr. Edem Adubra
Head, Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA
Mr. Co-chair, of the Task Force Steering Committee, when you are interested to organize an event like
this on issues so heavy - in breadth and depth - issues which are so sensitive politically, economically,
culturally, socially, emotionally, I think, when you still have participants sitting and showing real
sign of engagement, you can only be a happy man. And I am very thankful to you all for your engagement
in this process which, I consider as a beginning of a long, long journey. I repeat again - in which I hope
to have you all bringing in more people that could make the cause of teachers address globally and our
respective contexts.
Context is actually important and that is what you have been hearing from the beginning. Suppose
that we organize this and the person, who should assess me and us (the participants) on this process,
looks at the time, his watch, right now and says, Where is Edem and where are the participants; and
then we are still in this room. The person will miss out the fact that we have been engaged in a process
that needs to be concluded. So the context should address the importance you give to the criteria of
assessing the process on developing your strategies.
Ill like to make a comment on the reports they captured the essence of what we discussed. So I would
like I am not a perfectionist but I have a small, one more request to the rapporteurs. If they could take
the recommendations and incorporate some of the issues and make them action oriented. Because that
is the way we formulated them; we want them to be action oriented so that we could carry them out,
here in India, as program developing foundation. So you can work on it for 15 minutes and then at the
closing of the session, bring it to us so that the conclusions I am going to be drawing now could be
completed by these recommendations.
If you miss out on context, you wouldnt understand that for this (conference) to happen, we have had
the collaboration of the hotel people who promptly would open curtains and close them as well. So
this is when you talk about collaboration between school context and community, if you dont have
those supportive elements, which are not in teacher policies or what the administrators and bureaucrat
conceive as elements that are needed for successful delivery of teaching and learning, we miss out the
point as well.
I will, however, draw your attention on a couple of things I
have noted. About the gender one somebody indicated that
it is important to not consider gender as stand-alone and
articulate it in our next event in the various themes or topic
we would like to address. And I reflected on that and I said
yes, this is something that is actually true not just for the
gender one. But when you believe that all the topics would
address something, its like thinking that something is the
responsibility of everybody and nobody does it. So thats why
you need to single out, sometimes, items and things that you
believe are lost, in the global considerations of education and
education policy formulation. By having a segment here, we
I II IIndia is faced with a ndia is faced with a ndia is faced with a ndia is faced with a ndia is faced with a
paradox. It has paradox. It has paradox. It has paradox. It has paradox. It has
articulated strong, articulated strong, articulated strong, articulated strong, articulated strong,
rights-based policies in rights-based policies in rights-based policies in rights-based policies in rights-based policies in
favor of education yet it favor of education yet it favor of education yet it favor of education yet it favor of education yet it
doesn t have, nor is doesn t have, nor is doesn t have, nor is doesn t have, nor is doesn t have, nor is
officially developing, a officially developing, a officially developing, a officially developing, a officially developing, a
clearly articulated clearly articulated clearly articulated clearly articulated clearly articulated
description of quality. description of quality. description of quality. description of quality. description of quality.
53
are not, by any means, thinking that these issues are isolated items. I give an example again. When you
think about decentralization, in Ghana in their policy formulation, in their decentralization policy,
there is a provision that if you are a female teacher and then there is a post in the rural area, they allow
two female teachers to go to the rural area so that the female teacher doesnt feel alone and exposed. So
those are the linkages between decentralization and gender, for example.
Ok, now what do we remember from these two days deliberations. What I am going to present now is
not final; so bear with me. We just have the gist and we will increase and enhance with the
recommendations later on.
The forum was officially opened by Honorable Shri Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development
Minister, with an ardent defense of the teaching profession. He laid out some principles and policy
avenues for making it more attractive - that is, the teaching profession - thereby improving the applicant
pool as well as the public perception of the teaching profession. He spoke of the tools and the support
that need to be made available for teachers so that they can best fulfill their roles. He reminded us of the
importance of a new pedagogy, of the crucial role of examination in driving educational practice - for
better or for worse - and of the increasing importance of technologies in modernizing educational
management and practice. I would also say that before he left the premises of the conference, Honorable
Shri Kapil Sibal accepted to become the Goodwill Ambassador of the International Task Force for EFA
which, as most of you commented, is the charismatic leadership that we need to bring the message
about the importance of teachers to the high level forum.
Our other opening speakers spoke about these themes, the theme that the Minister addressed as well
as about the significance of reinforced partnerships and the need for an array of opportunities, for
aspiring and practicing teachers to learn and perfect their skills. So we were faced with what is both
obvious and hard to achieve. Committed and effective teachers are at the forefront of positive education
change. They have to be involved in the future of education as they will largely shape the future. Then
we started addressing the specifics of themes of the conference. The first one was Professional
Development of Teachers.
India is faced with a paradox. It has articulated strong, rights-based policies in favor of education yet
it doesnt have, nor is officially developing, a clearly articulated description of quality. Professional
development of teachers is, in its initial stages, carried out almost entirely by private institutions. I was
not sure if I remembered the percentage 80 or 85 percent of these teacher education institutions are
private. These institutions do not fall under government control. Although, there are formal requirements
for numbers of years of education for teachers at each level, shortage of qualified candidates means
these are not respected. Again, it (India) doesnt have competency standards for teachers. And because
of these shortages, India has hired very large numbers of unqualified people to be teachers, with no
clear plans for normalizing the situation.
Several of the introductory statements and presentations of the first session highlighted this paradox
and speakers hoped that it would soon move high on the agenda for education reform. I will complete
this part of the conclusion by the recommendations on the specifics of the theme when I receive the
final draft formulated by the rapporteur.
Decentralization Challenges and Steps forward. Several issues emerged from the presentations on
decentralization First, there needs to be reflection about the optimum level at which decisions should
be made. Second, there is resistance to the notion of decentralized responsibility for implementing
national or state decisions that represent a uniform system of doing things. Third, often capacity can
be lacking when actions that have been the responsibility of the central authority are suddenly
decentralized. And capacity building or partnering to develop capacity during a transition period is
important.
Decentralization varies according to the nature of the activity - whether training, education material
or planned. More research is needed on what is needed and what works. Finally, consulting local
actors, including teachers, is very important. So those are the key elements that we extracted from the
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presentations and the discussion that ensued, which are
going to be completed by the relevant recommendations
we have just heard.
On Gender issues in the teaching force: As governments,
including the Government of India, adopt rights-based
approaches to education, there is great progress in access
of girls to education although much remains to be done.
Female teachers are in the majority, at least, at the basic
education level in many countries. However, girls are still in the minority in science and math and
technology; women are rarely seen at high level management positions, and indeed as school heads in
many areas. Several speakers insisted on the fact that while tracking gender, statistics has become an
important measure of success of government education policies, qualitative issues are lost in this way
of looking at the question.
Boys are falling behind in education outcomes of some countries or regions. We do not know the effect
good, negative or neutral of feminization of education profession. We do not know whether
changes in attitude to gender, as an issue, are taking place or not, by feminization. Finally, we do not
know how progress towards parity in access affects the ways that males and females, boys and girls,
interact.
Speakers insisted on the fact that gender should not be seen as exclusively meaning girls and women
but as a way of looking at issues of equality and equity in society, in general. Again, we will insist here
that your recommendations are reflected in. And one comments that I took, I picked from, the questions
after the presentations, is that we need to see teaching and learning, or at least when you consider
gender, we should not see teachers as the only people who could impact the perception of gender
stereotypes. We need to talk about learners - so in formulating the recommendations, again, please
attend to this important comment.
Teachers can play a significant role and here too I am always happy when we mention that people
should put importance on teachers or teachers are crucial, central to education. But that could have a
downside when things go wrong. Then we are exposing teachers as being the single villains in this
process. That is why schools or the education system as social constructs needs to still be perceived
when we highlight the important role of teachers.
Now, on the sub-theme of public-private partnerships to address the teacher gap: We heard three
interventions about the potential and limitations of public-private partnerships. While, fundamen-
tally, basic education is the responsibility of the public authorities, various kinds of new partnerships
have demonstrated that they can provide innovative ideas and services, some new resources and
complementarity with the public sector in reaching particular populations. Caution must be exercised
concerning sometimes overenthusiastic hopes for the contributions of the corporate sector to public
education. We heard that again when somebody asked the question, why a public good should be
even allowed to have a private intervention. The public sector will always have final responsibility
for ensuring equity and equal access, and Ill add quality also. The ensuing discussion elaborated on
these notions with an emphasis on the driving role of the government and the need for careful negotia-
tions with private entities. Recommendations should be plugged in here when the report is finalized.
Inclusive education Teachers for children with special needs: The presentations provided an eloquent
panorama describing needs and examples of inclusive education. Each panelist emphasized that all
elements of inclusive education are fundamental for quality education for all children, in general.
Inclusion is a process not an event. It is a matter of adapting the environment, the pedagogy, the
curriculum and rhythms of education, in order to take into account the individual needs of all children.
And I liked the comment of the moderator yesterday when he commented that if you consider my
disability, are you not denying yourself the perception, your ability to perceive my disability. The
presentations provided that the Indian government has policies in place for inclusive education that
.....gender should not be .....gender should not be .....gender should not be .....gender should not be .....gender should not be
seen as exclusively meaning seen as exclusively meaning seen as exclusively meaning seen as exclusively meaning seen as exclusively meaning
girls and women but as a girls and women but as a girls and women but as a girls and women but as a girls and women but as a
way of looking at issues of way of looking at issues of way of looking at issues of way of looking at issues of way of looking at issues of
equality and equity in equality and equity in equality and equity in equality and equity in equality and equity in
society society society society society
55
follows on naturally from its rights-based education policies. Advocates and practitioners have
succeeded in mobilizing significant public opinion for an education that doesnt define people with
disabilities or special needs through the lens of a medical issue but as an issue of social inclusiveness.
The panel stressed that when education is inclusive all participants benefit - not other groups or
individuals that suffer discrimination, such as girls or minorities, but also teachers.
Teacher training is moving from the preparation of teachers specifically to teach those with special
needs, to preparation of all teachers to take into account special needs - at least in principle. So these
principles are what we wanted your recommendations to put into practical measures. So I have no
problem with the long list of recommendations that this group submitted provided that we find a way
of operationalizing them at national level, institutional level and global level.
Finally, the final sub-theme is monitoring and evaluation of teacher policy reforms. I must confess that
I was impressed when I saw the initial list of people, the participants, who signed up for this theme. I
was impressed by the interest it generated among the audience. This has been proven again by the
report on the recommendations.
India has, for some 20 years, developed a series of policies
on most subjects related to EFA. It has good quality
statistics on many aspects of education. It has developed
a policy and is implementing the creation of District
Institutions of Education and Training that are the focal
point and implementers of policies on teacher training.
The UNESCO institute of statistics, in addition to regularly
updated survey on teacher gaps, is now developing,
notably in Asia, set of data concerning teachers including
some related to classroom performance. And I am glad to
inform you that the task force has already started working
on it. It was when I was here that I received the concept note that we are preparing together with
USAID to finalize the framework for teacher indicators. So work is in progress, well capitalize on your
recommendations to improve and engage some of you in the process.
There is a recognized need for better information about better teacher training, teacher performance
and the teacher variables that have impact on learning outcomes. However, to be done, to connect
policy to practice and monitoring to evaluation of learning outcomes, a lot remains to be done. In spite
of both policy commitment and advocacy for the use of open and distance learning for teacher pre-
service and in-service training, evidence is lacking for what works. Similarly, the evidence is lacking
concerning the impact of short training courses on the classroom practice and on their outcomes.
So those are the key conclusions. On a short and quick way we have extracted this big discussion that
took place in this couple of days. We will refine, complete, and integrate the proper formulations and
the names of individuals who made those contributions so that the document becomes a historical
document marking another beginning for our concerted efforts to address teacher education issues in
order to achieve EFA goals. I thank you for your attention.
Mrs. Anshu Vaish
Thank you, Edem. Please join us. Steve?
Vote of Thanks
Mr. Steve Passingham
Co-chair of the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA European Commission
Ok. Thank you very much. As Co-chair of the task force, I would like to express our very warm
appreciation and thanks to a number, all, of the people that have made this week possible and a
A AA AAll elements of inclusive ll elements of inclusive ll elements of inclusive ll elements of inclusive ll elements of inclusive
education are fundamental education are fundamental education are fundamental education are fundamental education are fundamental
for quality education for all for quality education for all for quality education for all for quality education for all for quality education for all
children, in general. children, in general. children, in general. children, in general. children, in general.
Inclusion is a process not Inclusion is a process not Inclusion is a process not Inclusion is a process not Inclusion is a process not
an event. an event. an event. an event. an event.
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success. I will start with big thanks to the Government of India and would ask to pass on our sincere
thanks to the Minister for his inspiring words at the beginning of yesterday and for yesterdays
dinner. We appreciate the very warm welcome we have had and the hospitality provided by the
Government of India and to all the insightful sharing of the challenges India is grappling with in
relation to teacher issues. It has been a clear reminder of the absolute centrality of teachers in achieving
EFA goals.
In particular, we would like to thank Amarjit Singh and his team. You have done an absolutely
magnificent job. You have provided us with a very rich and insightful, if sometimes very sobering,
experience and you have set the bar really high for future events. Thank You.
We would also like to thank Edem Adubra and his team in the Task Force Secretariat. Together with
Amarjit and his team, you have ensured the success of the task force meeting on Monday and of this
policy forum. Thank you very much.
Likewise we extend our thanks to David Atchoarena, UNESCO for your solid collaboration with the
Government of India in relation to this policy forum and other matters and for your continuing
support for the Task Force.
I would like also its been a, the source of the richness, I think, for much of this policy forum - I would
also like to thank the presenters, the persons who have been on this panel and all of the participants
from India. I know many of you have traveled a long way and you bring a rich diversity of your
experience and expertise. Thank you very much for your valuable insights and all of the food for
thought that you have given us.
I am not sure if there is anyone in the room but thank you also to the Ashok Hotel and its staff for their
very warm welcome, very smooth organization and delicious taste of Indian cuisine. Thank You.
Not least, I would like to thank all of the Task Force members for your participation. Many of you have
come from many miles away, if not the other side of the world in some cases. It has been really good to
meet you all, both in the Task Force meeting on Monday and in this policy forum. It has been particularly
encouraging to welcome new members and to meet new focal points. I think we have had a great
opportunity for those of you who are new to get to know each other a little and hopefully we can build
on this success. In our meeting on Monday, we took many important decisions to ensure the most
effective possible working of the task force and to better support your efforts to address the many
challenges you face in improving all aspects related to teachers in your countries.
I will finish my thanks with thanks to the Government of Indonesia for its support. It supported the
Task Force in a number of ways including succourment of people to the secretariat in Paris and also in
co-chairing the Task Force. It has been two and a half years of great contributions so - thank you,
Government of Indonesia and welcome to the Government of India as co-chair of the next two years of
the Task Force.
If I may, I would just make a few comments. Yesterday morning, the Minister challenged us all. He
challenged us not just in new thinking for better policy and better practice. What does this challenge
actually mean for us? It is a huge one. It means that we need to do a much better job of marrying why
and what of all the aspects in relation to teachers to how we can actually make a difference. It needs
thinking through and discussing how change happens and how any learning is applied and for us
to answer for ourselves what difference our learning from each other will make in our own situations
both in other parts of India but also in other countries.
The Minister referred to new thinking. Another way of saying this is in terms of innovation. Just to give
one example of that the whole issue, if I can use the phrase, it may not be universally popular but it
is a sure hand - is the issue of teacher quality; the quality of teaching that students experience. We not
only need to focus on this as an absolutely critical challenge but we also need to do it in ways that take
into account some of the realities we deal with the realities of teachers lives, the reality of their
starting points in terms of support or lack of support they get in becoming effective teachers. We also
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need to take into account the financing of education and be thinking much more rigorously about cost-
effective ways of trying to provide the support that teachers need to become more effective teachers and
to help their students to learn.
One of the things that has been mentioned a number of times is been the evidence base for better policy
and better practice; the role of research and monitoring and evaluation. What do we know? How
sound is our knowledge? This is absolutely critical. We know that many political decisions in relation
to education, and in many other areas, are taken not just on the basis of evidence: Inertia plays a role,
sometimes its ideology. Sometimes, as Edem said just now, its emotions, sometimes its political populism
or expediency. But our basis for arguing the case for education, arguing the case for more support and
more action on the whole range of challenges in relation to teachers, must be based on the strongest
possible evidence base. And we need, I think, to focus on telling stories, talking to the wider world and
particularly about success. Even in the best of circumstances, political attention and funding is limited.
In some cases, some countries represented in this room, are going through particularly austere times
when a lot of political attention and funding for education, and therefore for teachers, is being challenged
and in some cases diminished. We need to be much clearer amongst ourselves about not just resolving
the issues that we have been discussing over the last couple of days, internally, amongst fellow
educators but also to the wider world.
Yesterday morning at the beginning, just to conclude, Edem referred to battery charging. I think, this
week has been a great opportunity to recharge. Success, of course, will depend on many factors but
primarily on all of us and how we communicate and learn from each other, how we share experiences
and we apply that learning. I am confident we have a strong basis to build on. Just, I reiterate, my
thanks to all those who have been involved in this week. It has been an emphatic battery charge.
Thank you very much.
Anshu Vaish
Thank you very much Steve. So this, I think, pretty much brings us to the close of the forum. It has been
a very full two days for everybody here, I know. Well I will promise that we will finish very soon. It is
a bit strange, I have to say, to make a closing address after the vote of thanks but since that is the
expectation, I will make a formal closing address, with your permission.
Friends you know that every year on the 5
th
of - you may know, you dont all know - that on the 5
th
of
September every year, India honors her teachers for their invaluable contribution to nation building by
preparing our children for being responsible citizens and responsible participants in society. 5
th
September is the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, he was our former president, a great
teacher and an outstanding scholar. I call to mind the words of Dr. Radhakrishnan, and I quote:
The aim of education is not the acquisition of information, although important, or acquisition of
technical skills, though essential in modern society, but the development of that bent of mind, that
attitude of reason, that spirit of democracy which will make us responsible citizens.
I believe that these words encapsulate the whole philosophy and approach to education. They urge us
to introspect and think about some critical issues in our education system. To give you just two or three
such issues:
What education purposes should the schools seek to achieve?
Are our schools achieving these educational purposes?
And if not what alternative educational experiences can be provided that are likely to achieve these
purposes?
If there is one group of people who can and must answer these questions, I am sure you will all agree
that that group is of teachers. It is the real and lived experience of teachers with children in classrooms
that will inform us of the directions in which we ought to proceed; that will inform the roadmap that
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we set ourselves for the future. It is teachers who provide a safe space for children to express themselves
and who can create inclusive classrooms for all students. With universalization of school education
becoming a real and achievable goal through EFA, more and more children from very diverse
backgrounds have entered and will continue to enter our school systems. And in a country like India,
many of these children will come from families who have never had the opportunity of schooling at
all. So these children will be first generation school goers and there is a pretty large number of them in
our schools now as a result of our universalization of elementary education program and the Right to
Education Act. Many of these children, many of these first generation school goers, would have varied
and wide ranging life-experiences. The challenge before teachers is to build on their experiences and
ensure that every child participates in the learning process. And the challenge before us as policy
makers, implementers and administrators is to ensure that the teachers already within the system are
enabled to manage this change, their capacities are built to manage this change and the new ones that
are selected, are selected for their aptitude and their commitment to the teaching profession. Anybody
who has been associated with the school education in any capacity, recognizes that of all the elements
that are required for inclusive and relevant quality education (on which we will have an E9 meeting
tomorrow, this is the theme of the E9 meeting tomorrow), anybody who has been associated with the
school education will realize that of all the elements that are required for such an education, teachers
are perhaps the most crucial. Children will learn only in an atmosphere where they feel they are
valued. And Indias National Policy on Education states in this context and again I quote,
A warm welcoming and encouraging approach, in which all concerned share a solicitude for the needs of
the child, is the best motivation for the child to attend school and to learn
In other words, the best buildings, the best curricula, the best textbooks will not translate necessarily
into learning unless there are motivated and sensitive teachers. In many countries, our schools still do
not covey to all children, the sense of being valued and the sense that learning is something that is
joyful, that learning is not something to be feared, it is not something stressful. Teachers need to step
out of the role of moral authority and learn to listen to children with empathy without judging them.
They also need to enable children to listen to one another in the classroom and create an atmosphere
of trust in the classrooms - particularly for girls and children of underprivileged social groups. For
India, this kind of inclusion is extremely important and I am fairly sure that the same applies to many
countries across the world. But while we realize the need for all of these things to happen, as policy
makers and administrators what do we do to translate this vision into reality. These challenges
obviously existed even when access to education was restricted and our classrooms were therefore
relatively homogeneous. With universalization and increasingly heterogeneous classrooms, the chal-
lenges are further compounded. Universalization has also led to a significant increase in the demand
for education, as we know, and a consequential increase in societal aspirations as well. Obviously
each country and each society needs to find its own answers to these challenges and in a country
which is as diverse as India, each state needs to find its own answers to these challenges.
What India realized a decade ago was that the right to education needed to be given the status of a
fundamental right in our constitution. And so we saw the constitutional amendment to bring in
Article 21 A for this purpose in 2002. So in 2002 the right to elementary education became the funda-
mental right of every child between the ages of six and fourteen in this country. Then followed a long
process of drafting, in consultation with 34 states and union territories, the Right to Education bill
which came into force, the Act came into force, on the 1
st
of April 2010. And, as I said, this gives every
child, between the ages of six and fourteen, the right to free and compulsory education. This act, the
Right to Education Act, represents a momentous step forward in our struggle to universalize elemen-
tary education. We have had a program in place for a decade, since 2001-02, we have had the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyaan program being implemented. The successes of this program are phenomenal and yet
there was something missing till we made this a right of every child because now that right is justi-
ciable. A child that is denied a benefit under a program cannot go to court but a child that is denied a
right under a legal, under legislation, can go to court can obtain that right through the court.
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Simultaneously, however, the Right to Education Act poses the biggest ever challenge for the teachers
of this country. While the Act seeks to make life easy for teachers in many ways - by proscribing the
pupil-teacher ratios, by mandating that the teacher vacancies in any school will not exceed ten percent
of the sanctioned strength of teachers and by providing that teachers shall not be deployed for non-
academic work except work like census and elections and disaster relief which we cannot actually
perform without, you know, bringing in the teacher force - the legislation also has high, very high
expectations from teachers: These include their full involvement with the functions of the school
management committees and accountability towards the local authorities regarding the rights of
children and their entitlements. The Act also lays down the academic responsibilities if teachers in
terms of what they should teach, how many hours and days they should teach, how they should teach
and how they should evaluate students continuously and comprehensively. In fact, the Right to
Education Act invokes a moral response from the teaching profession. It recognizes that while the
teachers should be able to safe-guard their dignity and their rights as members of an esteemed profes-
sion, there should be no compromise with errant behaviour on the part of teachers.
Yesterday the Minister for Human Resource and Development touched upon the role of ICT in educa-
tion and in particular in teacher education. Today, education is not considered complete without
initiation into the world of ICT which has the potential to transform the means of acquiring and
accessing information. The use of non-textual approaches to learning can lead to improved learner
engagement and motivation. It is important that teachers see ICT as a natural part of quality teaching
and learning. The challenge therefore now is to expand the reach of ICT enabled education to all
schools in the country. But before we can extend ICT to all schools in the country, we need to expand
the reach of ICT to all teacher education and training institutions; and to incorporate the skills of ICT
enabled teaching and learning into professional courses for teachers. I am sorry, actually, to note that
at present there are many of our teacher education institutions which do not have facilities for this and
we hope that the new teacher education program, which we have very recently rolled out, will provide
facilities of this kind to teacher education institutions, at least to those that are run, set up and man-
aged by the government.
The Government of India has recently drafted a policy on ICT in schools and this policy is expected to
be approved within the coming few days. I am happy to say that this policy hinges on the centrality of
the teacher and alerts implementers against seeking to supplant teachers with the use of e-content and
ICT based teaching. We must remember that, we must recognize and remember that ICT is not a
panacea for all our ills in the school system and ICT should be used not to drive education but to
enable education it must strengthen the hand of the teacher but must not seek to replace the teacher.
And I think that this is very important to acknowledge and for implementers to remember when they
are rolling out the implementation of the policy.
As this forum draws to a close I am reminded of something else that Dr. Radhakrishnan said and I
quote:
Respect for teachers cannot be ordered, it must be earned.
I believe that it is up to all of us to build the capacities of our teachers so that they take pride in their
profession, in their job and in the children that they teach. We owe it to our teachers and to our
children to restore the stature and prestige of teachers in society.
Before I close I would like to reiterate that India feels privileged indeed to have the opportunity to host
these three international events on EFA. We started with the Steering Committee of the International
Task Force for teachers on EFA followed by a meeting of the general body of the Task Force on the first
day (on that day itself). Yesterday, the Honorable Minister for HRD, Shri Kapil Sibal, inaugurated this
4
th
International Policy Dialogue Forum on teacher challenges for EFA in India and tomorrow we go
on to the meeting of E9 countries on teacher development for inclusive, relevant quality education.
We have had extremely meaningful and rich discussions through these three days and I have abso-
C
l
o
s
i
n
g

R
e
m
a
r
k
s
60
lutely no doubt that tomorrows deliberations will be equally fruitful and enriching. I would like to
take this opportunity to thank all the governments, all the organizations, institutions and the indi-
viduals who have participated in the event so far and will participate in the meeting tomorrow. In
particular, I would like to thank the International Task Force for teachers for EFA for providing us a
chance to partner with them and for dedicating this forum to the issues around teachers in India.
Thank You.
I would like to specially mention the co-chairs of the task force, Miss Poppy Dewi Puspitawati and Mr.
Steve Passingham, who is co-chair on behalf of the European Commission, the Steering Committee
task force members, Ms. Winsome Gordon, from Jamiaca and Mr. Alessandro Ricoveri from the EC, as
well, the Secretariat for the International task force for teachers on EFA, Mr. Edem Adubra, who is here
with me, Ms. Shivali Lawale and Ms Makedda Yohannes. Could you please stand where you are?
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I would also specially like to thank UNESCO, UNICEF and the EC for their constant help and support
in organizing this forum, and indeed the three events that we have organized here over these four
days. Heartfelt thanks are due to all the speakers, moderators, rappaoteaurs, participants in the exhibi-
tion and participants in the forum. I must particularly acknowledge the consistent help and guidance
from NUEPA, especially Professor Govinda and Professor Ramachandran, in the academic organiza-
tion of this forum. Professor Padma Saranagapani of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Professor
Janaki Rajan of Jamia Milia Islamia, Shri Dilip Ranjekar of the Azim Premji Foundation and Professor
Poonam Batra of Delhi University, also helped and advised in conceptualizing and organizing the
academic aspects of the forum. I warmly thank them all.
I acknowledge with gratitude the presence of representatives of our state governments and I mention
this as well - I was overwhelmed by the presence of state governments in this event. Their response has
been most heart warming and I am confident that they would have benefited greatly from the delibera-
tions of this forum. I also join Steve in thanking the Ashok Hotel and its entire staff, even if they may
not be here now, for organizing the hospitality for the participants and for taking care of their needs,
however small. I would also like to thank the media for their role in spreading the message of EFA and
the role of teachers in achieving EFA goals. I would also like to thank the Ministries of External Affairs
and Home Affairs, as well as the Delhi Government, and the Archaeological Survey of India, for their
handholding and their assistance in organizing various aspects of these events.
Finally, I would like to thank my own Joint Secretary, Dr. Amarjit Singh, and Director, Dr. Suparna
Pachauri and the entire team of officers and helpers that they led for the organization of these interna-
tional events. This team worked tirelessly for many weeks to ensure that every event is well organized
and is conducted smoothly without them none of this would have been possible and no one realizes
this and recognizes this more than I do. I extend my warm and heartfelt thanks to each one of them for
their complete involvement, commitment and their pride in organizing these international events.
Thank you all very much you are my own but I must thank you. I would be remiss if I didnt.
I would now like to invite on the dais the names well, Steve is here, Edem is here already; Winsome,
please could you join us here? This is for the, for us to be able to give you some mementos, I believe
those are Amarjits orders. So Amarjit, maybe, you can join us here as well. Mr. Allessadro Ricoveri
could you please join us, Shivali and Makedda Yohannes. Steve, thank you so much.
61
Agenda
29-30 May 2012
Ashoka ITDC, New Delhi, INDIA
62
63
64
65
66
Varsha Hooja
The whole community approach to inclusive education
Ignorance is a guarantee of marginalisation. Lewin (2000: 23)
The micro level or The whole school approach
was the level of classroom and school values
and culture and looked at school
development and training.
The mezzo level was The whole community
approach and focused on an action research
under which inclusive services were
developed within the community.
The macro level was The whole policy
approach, addressing policy and legislation,
at the local, state, national, international level.
This included the whole rights approach
moving away from service delivery to the
matter of rights and entitlements.
An inclusive society values everyone and does
not differentiate and discriminate on the basis of
gender, race, caste, class or disability. Inclusion
means all castes, religions, races, boys and girls,
whatever their aptitudes, learning and working
together. It involves schools, communities and
politics. Inclusion is a journey, a process and
needs preparation. A critical component of
inclusive education involves having a sustaining
relationship with local communities.
Building the capacity of the parents and trust in
the community
NCRI has always recognized the importance of
partnering with parents. This is a radical departure
from the usual practice prevalent in India;
wherein the medical and para-medical
professionals are treated as being demi - God
figures, whose word is law. They are also used to
being the final authority on all subjects related to
child health, both mental and physical. Though
the professionals do have their benefits, the
parents in this setup are reduced to being helpful
bystanders if not gofers at the beck and call of the
Medical Gods, rather than being a fount of
information where their child is concerned. That
the parents are the experts on their children is
sidelined in this setup.
This is the story of a journey that began in 1972
when children with multiple disabilities were
considered uneducable and Dr. Mithu Alur set
up the first innovative model for the education of
children with multiple disabilities in India, under
the aegis of The Spastics Society of India.
Moving away from the prevalent hospital
setting, a special school was begun using a
multidisciplinary approach combining education
and treatment under one roof. With the
modifications introduced and the concessions
lobbied for and obtained, the students were able
to pursue Higher Education and Technical
Education. Today the first generation of learners
have become accountants, journalists, computer
experts. They have pursued academics at the
Masters and Ph.D. level. 18 of the 31 Indian states
have replicated the same model. However.......all
the centres of excellence in the country could only
touch the tip of the iceberg.
A research on government of India policy, the
Integrated Child Development Scheme or the ICDS
found that 90 per cent of children with disabilities
were being left out of government programs.
It was felt that the exclusion in the ICDS
programmes, reflected the wider malaise of the
lack of a cohesive policy in the country that had
resulted in a massive exclusion that left close to
five million disabled children under the age of
five out of the safety net of existing services (Alur
1998). It became critical to change this and in 1999,
the Spastics Society moved away from segregated
education to the concept of inclusive education,
setting up the National Resource Centre for
Inclusion (NRCI), where children with or without
disability studied together side by side. The main
aim was to operationalise inclusive education into
existing Government practice through
demonstrating how inclusion works.
At the NRCI, inclusion means ALL children who
face barriers to learning, especially socially
disadvantaged children; the girl child and the
child with disability. Inclusion was addressed at
three levels:
67
NCRI began raising the capacity of the parents,
involving them as decision makers and
transforming them into resource people. Regular
parent meetings, home visits, home management
programs and awareness rallies were held to
enhance interaction between the supposed
professionals and the parents. Womens
empowerment groups, Mahila Mandals were set
up and information on health and hygiene,
literacy, gender issues and importance of
inclusive education was disseminated at these
sessions. Training programs for parents were a
critical part of the transformation process. Parents
were trained to support their childs inclusion
through providing a continuum of support.
Parents Support Groups for Inclusion were
introduced where they could come together and
speak about their apprehensions and challenges.
Often parents of students who had earlier been
included were invited to share their experiences
with the group.
Changing parents attitudes was critical, as they
have been among the most sceptical and hesitant
about inclusion. They saw our special schools as
providing a caring and supportive environment
and did not want to risk losing this. Most parents
admitted to being anxious initially about their
childs inclusion. Their fears pertained mainly to
apprehensions about the reactions of non-
disabled peers, the teasing and adjustments their
children would have to make, toileting issues, the
attitudes of teachers and how their children
would be supported in the regular school, and
whether their children would be able to cope
academically. We held mock sessions and role
played the procedure. This built their confidence
to answer questions and speak to the authorities.
After inclusion the overall attitude of parents was
extremely positive. They reported that their
children too felt that the normal school was
much better. Parents valued the increased
interaction of their children with non-disabled
peers, and the confidence and independence that
resulted. Self-confidence of parents also
increased, and it was apparently evident to other
parents. In one case, the mother of a child who
had transitioned to a mainstream school was
elected by the other mothers of children in her
daughters class to be the class parent
representative for the school. Generally, parents
recommended that inclusion had to start as early
as possible and that parents had to be reached
with information and awareness-building so they
could help lead the way.
The empowered parents took ownership for
including their children into regular schools, and
established effective relationships with the
teachers. They now refer to the specialists only
when they need them.
Empowering the Community
We had been working in Dharavi, Asias largest
slum since 1985 and Community participation
and involvement had been an integral part of our
work. Our staff was employed from within the
community, local women who had completed
their schooling who knew the community. We
trained them to make home visits, encourage
families to send children to schools. Regular in
service training on the causes and identification
of disability, teaching strategies, the philosophy
of inclusion was carried out through an
Regular parent teacher meetings helped
empower the parents
Street plays helped spread the message of
inclusion within the community
68
interactive, participatory process converting the
women into Multipurpose Workers who were
taught to handle diverse situations and provide
support.
Substantial work was done with the key persons
from the community and with not just the parents
but all members of the joint and extended families.
Local Leaders and slumlords, influential people
in the community were addressed through street
plays, rallies, door-to-door visits. They had to be
convinced that the service had nothing to do with
political gain. Once they saw the benefit of
inclusion, they became our advocates.
Neighbourhood school principals and teachers
were given orientations to disability.
The three Ds of work are: Deprofessionalization;
Demystification and Deinstitutionalization.
In order to produce a cooperative and collaborative
partnership instead of an authoritarian and
hierarchical one, a deprofessionalization exercise
had to be carried out. These are the Three Rs:
Retraining of the professionals into the context
and culture of the community; relocation away
from the institute to the community and
redeployment of time: introducing another set of
priorities. As a result, professionals learned to
accept the expertise of parents.
Deinstitutionalization refers to the moving away
from specialised settings to the community setting
involving parents. This was not easy and took
the professionals a while to adjust to however
Disability and inclusion is surrounded by a
mystique and the general perception is that
professionals are needed to address this. We have
tried to demystify this through involving the
parents and the community.
Conclusion
Inclusion is a collaborative effort. Engaging the
community strengthens the community to take
ownership of the programme. A whole
community approach is critical to create an
inclusive environment.
References
Alur, M. (2003) Strengthening the Community from
Within: A Whole Community Approach to Inclusive
Education in Early Childhood. Paper presented at
The North South Dialogue II: From Rhetoric to
Practice, Kerala, India.
Alur, M (2003) Invisible Children A Study of Policy
Exclusion, Viva Books Private Limited, New Delhi
Alur, M. and Rioux, M. (2003) Included: An
Exploration of Six Early Education Pilot Projects for
Children with Disabilities in India.Final report.
Mumbai: SSI/UNICEF Project.
Alur, M, Rioux, M & Evans, J. (2004); Culturally
Appropriate Policy and Practice (CAPP) II the Whole
Community Approach; National Resource Centre
for Inclusion, Mumbai.
Alur, M (2010) Family Perspective: Parent and
Partnership published in the book entitled,
Confronting Obstacles to Inclusion: International
responses to developing inclusive education
edited by Rose, R.; David Foulton Book, London,
pg. 61-73. 2010
Booth, T. (1998) From them to Us Routledge
Mani, M.N.G. (2001) Inclusion: INDIA is way ahead,
Success & Ability, Indias Cross-disability
Magazine, Ability Foundation, Chennai, India.
69
Suzana Andrade Brinkmann
Concept Note: Designing a Long-Term Teacher Mentoring Plan
government training program. She comes to the
training program not because she particularly
wants to, but because her authorities have
mandated that she must even though she has
attended so many of these trainings before and
has heard most of what they have to say. She is
reluctant to leave her students unattended
without a teacher, and she will fall quite
behind in covering her portions. Moreover,
the government has not provided any
accommodation for participants so she must travel
two hours to reach the training centre each
morning and back.
When she comes to the training, she is told that
most of what she has been doing until that point
is wrong that her 20 years of hard efforts and
experience in dealing with children day in and
day out do not count. Her confidence in her own
abilities and thinking is shattered, and she must
listen quietly while an Expert at the front lectures
about the right way to teach the learner-
centered approach. Even though the Expert at
the front is lecturing to her that learning comes
from doing, her own long years of doing is not
counted, her own hard work and rich experience
do not matter as much as what the expert says.
She writes down everything she hears, but inside
she feels, how can the Lecturer really understand
the day-to-day struggle she will face when she
returns to her classroom? How can she put all
these new theories into practice when she has an
overcrowded classroom with children of different
ages, some of whom dont even understand the
language of the textbooks, most of them who
simply cant keep up, and when she already has
a huge syllabus to complete? Why should she try
to add these new activities on top of it, as if she
didnt have enough to do? How can she even
know where to begin, when she has never seen
this new approach being done in practice, when
she herself has never experienced this learner-
centered approach? But she would not dare to
bring up these issues because she is too scared of
For over a decade, recent education reform efforts
in India such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
program, the National Curriculum Framework
2005, and the Right to Education Act 2010 have
attempted to bring a paradigm shift in Indian
classrooms, from a teacher-centred to a more
learner-centred paradigm, where the teacher acts
as a facilitator in guiding the childs active process
of knowledge construction in a learning
environment that is participatory, inclusive and
joyful for every child. In-service teacher training
in particular has been promoted in SSA as a key
vehicle for bringing this paradigm shift among
teachers. SSA has spent over Rs 1700 crores from
2001 to 2010 in order to provide 20 days of in-
service training every year for government
teachers across the country. However, ten years
after the inception of SSA and six years after the
publication of NCF 2005, the 11
th
Joint Review
Mission of SSA (2010) reported that despite
enormous investments in quality improvement
initiatives under SSA, the vision of NCF 2005 is
still a long way from being translated into most
classrooms: The chalk and talk or teacher
instruction still dominates the classroomsafter a
number of years of implementing in-service teacher
training, it is not clear what type of impact such
training has had on improvements in the classroom
processes (p.35-37).
Why have our training programs so far failed in
translating the vision of NCF 2005 into practice
in our classrooms? It is not for lack of good
intentions, efforts, investments or programs
these have been considerable in the last decade.
Keeping in mind the larger systemic issues and
constraints impeding change in our classrooms,
how can we catalyse in-service training programs
under SSA to truly bring transformation in our
classrooms?
Why our trainings fail
Consider the case of Prabha, an average village
government school teacher attending a
70
the Trainer to say anything, and nobody asks her
what she thinks anyway, no one takes the time to
understand what are the real problems she faces
and what is the kind of help she really wants.
Some Expert who has never met her, who sits far
away in an office very different from her real
classroom, has already designed beforehand what
topics the training program will cover. And so
she treats this training just like every other: Simply
another formality she must complete, rather than
something that could actually help her become a
better teacher.
Can this really be a suitable learning environment
for teachers? Are we surprised that we do not see
the results we hope to see?
Apart from the larger systemic obstacles restricting
change (inconducive syllabi, assessment systems,
available resources, etc.), many of the factors
contributing to the low impact of teacher training
programs are avoidable and can in fact be
changed. Some of these factors include:
Training modules are often designed by
experts at the top, who have little personal
experience of elementary teaching, and who
assume that children are homogenous and
all learn the same way, and that teachers are
homogenous and all require the same inputs.
This leads to standardized modules that do
not relate to real classroom challenges, and
to teachers who are not empowered to think
for themselves they are expected to simply
follow the reforms prescribed by the thinkers
at the top.
Training is imparted through a cascade
mode, leading to transmission loss at each
successive level of training, and to Trainers
who have not have fully internalized a
learner-centred approach and thus are not
able to effectively communicate it to teachers
Teacher training programs often do not reflect
a learner-centered methodology, but are
delivered through lectures or transmission of
knowledge by experts, thus teachers never get
to see or experience the leaner-centred
approach being advocated
Teachers lack a clear vision of what they are
aiming to achieve, or have not been
adequately convinced of the effectiveness of
the new approach in order to put in the extra
work that it takes. When the training fails to
motivate or inspire them, teachers attitude
to training may be to simply get it over with.
Training does not address underlying beliefs
and mindsets: Many teachers (as well as
parents and administrators) in our society
carry deeply rooted beliefs about children,
education, relationships, etc., often stemming
from the surrounding culture, and which are
often at odds with learner-centred pedagogy.
Some examples include:
o A belief that children of certain
backgrounds/ gender are less capable of
learning;
o A hierarchical culture where authority
figures decide, and others listen and obey,
or where children are seen as property to
be controlled by adults;
o A belief that there is one right answer,
that the textbook is the only source of
valid knowledge, and that no learning
has taken place unless students write the
correct/ textbook answer thus
mistakes should not be tolerated;
o A notion that the goal of education is to
succeed in examinations in order to get a
good job (thus no times for activities)
o A belief that all children/ teachers will
learn in the same way and thus require
the same inputs (whether teaching or
training);
o An assumption that the teachers duty is
to cover the syllabus, and if students
dont learn, its their own fault.
Yet most training programs focus merely on
imparting technical skills, and fail to address
these deeply embedded cultural beliefs and social
ethos. Thus any changes during training are only
superficial once teachers return to the classroom,
they fall back on the beliefs that they have grown
up with and that they are surrounded by every
day.
Teachers lack a practical understanding of
how to implement learner-centered activities:
71
According to research, one of the major
reasons cited by teachers for their failure to
implement learner-centered teaching is: They
dont know how! Training often fails to
address the practical realities or to give
teachers enough experiential exposure of how
to create activities that relate to the textbooks,
how to conduct them with students, how to
manage multi-grade situations, etc.
Lack of hands-on support: Even a sincere
committed teacher who tries to implement the
training will face obstacles, and she needs
someone who can encourage her and help
her resolve her questions or doubts. This is
often not present since follow-up and on-site
support is often minimal.
Lack of support from administration or
authorities: Often the authorities to whom
teachers must report (whether headmasters,
school inspectors or administrative officers)
have not internalized the new approach
themselves, thus teachers feel constrained to
implement the new approaches in their
teaching.
Unfortunately, teacher training is often viewed
as the acquisition of new techniques or skills, and
our search is often for finding the right way of
doing things best practices or innovations that
we must train teachers to implement. But it does
not work like this. We cannot see teachers as
merely technicians who must be trained in specific
skills or knowledge. Teaching is about more than
just teachers subject knowledge or pedagogical
skills; it relates to fundamental assumptions about
the world, human beings, relationships, purpose.
It must deal with the whole person, with teachers
as human beings, and as such it must address
different dimensions of the teacher as a whole:
their underlying beliefs, their attitudes & values,
and their external practice in the classroom.
For any educational reform, teachers must be the
key players. This sort of change in teachers cannot
be imposed by the system from the top; teachers
cannot be programmed to change by external
experts or policymakers or teacher training
seminars. This kind of change will never take root,
and will soon die away, after the dynamic official
has moved on or with the next change in
leadership. The desire and vision for change must
come from within teachers themselves. Unless
teachers understand and design their own
strategies for change, they will naturally resist
reforms that are imposed from outside and that
do not come from their own thinking. Teachers
like any other human beings are capable of
delivering much better in their own classrooms if
they are given exposure to different ideas and
resources, and if they are allowed autonomy,
freedom, and scope to experiment.
In this scenario, the role of the system is not to
impose change on teachers, but to empower teachers
to think, discuss, reflect, and themselves take
ownership over their curriculum and teaching
process, coming up with their own solutions.
Training should be concerned with who teachers
are as human beings, nurturing them through a
process of personal transformation, which
awakens an inner desire and vision for change.
Then, only after that, they should be equipped
with the practical skills that can enable them to
implement their own renewed vision by seeing
the new approach for themselves, experiencing it
for themselves, practising it themselves (during
the training workshop), and collaboratively
reflecting on their practice themselves.
Teacher training that works
Think back to the most important things you have
learned in your life. Though some things may have
been learned in school, in reality most of the
important wisdom and lessons we learn in life,
we learn outside the classroom. We mostly learn
them from our experiences, from our friends, from
our family people we trust, whom we admire,
with whom we feel comfortable. It is through
honest conversations and dialogues, with friends
with whom we can discuss, debate, listen openly,
and share from our hearts, that we learn new
truths which remain with us and which can truly
change us.
The same is true of the new things we learn in our
work life. As professionals, we learn new and
better ways of doing our work based on our own
experience, when we experiment something new
and it works well, when we reflect on why
something we tried may not have worked well,
72
when we discuss new ideas with our colleagues,
or when we see a friend or colleague doing
something that we admire or that inspires us.
Similarly, as a teacher, it is when I see with my
own eyes a simple, doable, better way of doing
things, when I share and discuss with my friends,
try it for myself, and continually receive positive
encouragement and suggestions from friends on
how I can do it even better, that I will gain the
confidence to try new things to improve my
practice. No human being will truly open their
heart to someone whom they are afraid of,
someone who criticizes them, someone who does
not come to them as a friend and an equal. It is
fellow teachers and fellow human beings whom
teachers will open their hearts to, whom they will
listen to and discuss with openly, who they will
truly learn from.
How can we design training programs for
teachers that replicate such types of positive
learning environments for teachers: where they
can gain confidence in their own abilities, be
affirmed in the positive things they may already
doing, be exposed to simple new ways of doing
things, and receive encouragement and support
from a Mentor who inspires them to achieve better?
How can we create teacher training programs
where true sharing can take place among a
community of equals exploring and learning
together?
If we look at international research on what makes
teacher training programs effective, Michael
Fullan and Andy Hargreaves (1992) argue that
professional development needs to focus on the
development of total teachers, by addressing four
different dimensions: the teachers purpose, the
teacher as a person, the real world context in which
teachers work, and the culture of teaching, that is,
teachers professional relationships with others
within the system. This can be done through four
important focus areas: personal vision-building,
reflective inquiry, mastery of skills, and
collaborative work cultures (Fullan 1993).
Research from different countries around the
world (UNESCO 2004, Darling-Hammond and
McLaughlin 1995, Ramachandran 2009) suggests
that teachers are more likely to change their
teaching when:
1. The training is based on needs identified by
the teachers themselves
2. The training affirms what teachers already
know and can do, and link new knowledge
to build on that
3. The teachers have opportunities to work
together as they learn from each other
4. Instead of listening to experts telling them
what they should do, teachers participate in
a variety of interactive structured activities
and planned experiences (eg. case studies,
demonstrations, video recordings of teachers
in classrooms, discussion groups, micro-
teaching, role playing, etc.)
5. When teachers are empowered to think for
themselves and design changes in their own
schools, pedagogy and classrooms, even
teachers with minimal formal education and
training have been found able to bring
dramatic changes to their classrooms and
student achievement
6. The teachers are encouraged to apply what
they have learned both during the training
and in their own classrooms, and to then
reflect, receive feedback/support, modify,
and try again
7. Teacher development is continuous, offering
a rich menu of platforms and opportunities
for teachers to learn, rather than only one-
time training workshops
8. A culture of trust, collaboration and local
problem-solving is encouraged, rather than
teachers feeling scared to experiment or make
mistakes, and encouraged to hide their
problems
In short, effective training programs must:
1. Empower teachers to think for themselves
and come up with their own solutions,
through a sense of feeling valued and
respected as human beings, seeing
themselves as professionals, and believing
they have the power to change things
2. Inspire teachers, by exposing them to new
ideas, allowing them to experience the new
approach for themselves, building a personal
73
Examples from our own country suggest that the above principles do work. For example,
Kalikayatna, an NGO working with government teachers in Karnataka, has explained that the
secret to the tremendous changes they have been able to bring in existing government schools,
is that they refuse to offer teachers any ready-made solutions or fancy materials. Instead, they
simply expose teachers to a few new ideas, and then give them opportunities to think for
themselves. The Facilitators merely support them in that process, and give them space to try
out their own strategies and methods, and to share their experiences with their colleagues.
According to one of the trainers, They HAVE to put their brains together, and come up with a
solution. Even if it takes a little time, they have to arrive at the solutions. You can have the best of
modules, best of materials, but NOTHING will sink in unless teachers are able to own the process. It
cannot come from the outside; it has to come from her. Maybe it will come in a very crude and unpolished
way, and it can be fine-tuned later. But the initial change gets established through the teachers reflection
processes. Our training or facilitation is simply about strengthening the roots of a teacher their own
confidence and creativity. If she is growing and empowered, all kinds of fruits will emerge and they
will be unique for every teacher. That is our belief. (Interview with Gowri, Kalikayatna, Bangalore,
19 Oct 2010).
vision and internal motivation for change,
and promoting a commitment to
constitutional values
3. Convince teachers that the new pedagogy
indeed works better, based on tangible
evidence, direct observation of the impact on
children, a deeper understanding of how
children learn, examining their beliefs and
assumptions, and their own trial and error
Equip teachers thoroughly with practical skills,
simple strategies and easily-accessible resources
and support, so that they feel it is doable and can
confidently apply it in their everyday classrooms.
A new approach: Teacher mentoring
This kind of teacher development requires a shift:
From seeing it as one-time training programs, to
seeing it as a long-term process of teacher
mentoring. It requires creating and sustaining a
culture of teacher professionalism where teachers
themselves are empowered to become agents of
transformation, by equipping them with the clear
vision, understanding and skills they require to
design their own path and strategies for change,
along with the freedom and support needed for
them to implement it.
For this, the following framework for Teacher
Mentoring is proposed, focusing on four key
dimensions (that spell out the word C-A-R-E):
Each of these is explained in more detail below:
Continuous Collaboration
This requires an overall shift to a culture of
democratic rather than hierarchical relationships,
at every level of the system, starting at the very
top levels. We need to stop seeing all teachers as
the problem and instead start seeing at least some
of them as the solution. The NGO Eklavya, while
training teachers in Madhya Pradesh to use
innovative textbooks, noted that it is the
democratization of the training process that holds
the key to change in beliefs and attitudes...Above
all, sitting and eating together, sharing fun and
1. Continuous Collaboration among
teachers and academic support
systems;
2. Attitudinal Changes through
inspiration, vision-building & focus on
teachers values;
3. Reflective Learning where teachers
reflect critically on their beliefs and
practice'
4. Experiential Learning through
workshops that are learner-centered
and practical;
74
anger and living with teachers as equals is what
build firm bridges between them and us (Batra
2010). This involves seeing teachers as
professionals, and nurturing a culture of shared
learning and accountability, through strategies
such as:
Involving teachers themselves in formulating
policies and programs, in determining
training needs and topics, and in designing
training modules;
Building caring and democratic relationships
between teachers and Training/ Monitoring
Officials, where teachers feel valued and
respected as human beings and colleagues;
Encouraging peer learning among teachers
through regular monthly Reflection Meetings
and/or conducting follow-up workshops
throughout the year, where teachers have a
change to discuss their successes and
challenges, to reflect on and learn from their
mistakes, and to brainstorm solutions
together;
A strong network of Teacher Mentors who
themselves have classroom experience and
who can continually offer hands-on classroom
support, handholding, encouragement and
appreciation to teachers;
Providing affirmation and support to well-
performing teachers, and bringing role models
to the forefront;
Creating forums for a Learning Community
of teachers and educators, including
platforms and mechanisms which enable
teachers to interact as professionals, not only
among themselves but also with other
professionals such as scientists, scholars and
college teachers, to use libraries, laboratories
or internet facilities, to access interesting
teaching and learning material, meet other
teachers and educators, and attend
workshops of their choice.
Attitudinal changes
Teachers attitudes can be addressed through
strategies that inspire and touch teachers, such
as:
Focus on building relationships among
Trainers and Teachers: The more Trainers are
willing to share from their own personal
stories of change and learning, the more
teachers will be encouraged to be authentic
and open in their learning;
Focus on building values: Good teaching is
less about what teachers know and more
about who they are as human beings.
Training must promote values of
inclusiveness, equality, integrity, commitment
to the practice of democracy, a love for
children, commitment to childrens learning,
a personal desire to learn and grow.
Ultimately it is the teachers love and concern
for each student that drives her to excellence
in teaching this is what we must inspire;
Inspiring teachers by targeting their affective
domains, through inspiring stories, films,
writings, real life examples, resource persons,
activities and discussions that touch teachers
hearts and inspire them with a desire for
change;
Building a clear vision of what they can
achieve, by providing plenty of exposure to
what change could look like exposure to
innovative schools or teachers, successful
working models, good books, demonstrations
of activities;
Selection of strong Trainers who are effective
communicators and who are themselves
motivated and committed to change.
Reflective learning
Training must challenge some of teachers
fundamental beliefs about teaching and learning,
about children, etc. which can sometimes be a
painful or resisted process, and requires an
environment where teachers feel safe and
confident to take that challenging step of
questioning their beliefs and practice. This can
be encouraged by:
Allowing plenty of opportunities for personal
and group reflection (eg. journals, reflection
time, homework, thought-provoking
questions, discussions, debates, sharing
times), encouraging teachers to reflect on their
previous experiences, their own teaching
practice, their strengths and weaknesses,
their philosophy of education, to examine
75
their assumptions and biases, to question
themselves and others ;
Getting teachers to put themselves in
childrens shoes: One of the most important
qualities we can promote among teachers is
empathy getting them to look at their
teaching from a childs perspective, to truly
understand children and how they think,
what they like, the problems they face, why
they have trouble learning, and what can
truly help them learn;
Encouraging a culture of lifelong learning,
instilling in teachers a love of reading, a desire
to improve, helping them identify areas in
which they want to grow, and providing
exposure to good reading materials;
Demystifying theory of pedagogy: Rather
than just providing teachers with quick-fixes
and superficial tips or tools for improving
learning in different subjects, teachers must
be enabled to delve deeper into the
foundational elements of each discipline in
simplified terms, and to conceptually
understand the pedagogical rationale behind
activities in different subjects, so that they can
design better strategies and activities on their
own;
Teachers own subject mastery also needs to
be looked at more closely, in terms of their
ability to deliver the curriculum well. Needs
assessment should be undertaken of teachers
own confidence in delivering the elementary
school curriculum, which can then feedback
into needs-based teacher training for
addressing areas of weakness.
Experiential learning
Training workshops must allow teachers to
experience for themselves the active and
participatory methodologies that they are
expected to implement with children, and must
also provide them opportunities to actually plan
and practice conducting activities (if possible
with real children), with the support of the
trainers.
Learner-centred pedagogy believes that
learners learn better when they are involved
in the learning process, when learning is
related to their daily life experiences and
environment, and interactive discussions are
encouraged whereby learners arrive at
insights on their own, with the help of peers
and a facilitator. These principles must be
applied as much to teachers as to students:
Training must be participatory, drawn from
teachers own needs, interests and
experience, and with the Trainer merely
guiding them through a process of thinking,
discovering and applying their own solutions
and insights;
Link between theory and practice: Training
should be focused on identifying practical
problems that teachers face in the classroom,
and on devising and demonstrating simple
strategies and doable remedies that teachers
can use to tackle these common problems.
Using effective training methodologies
In terms of the content of teacher training, we have
seen that training must address three broad areas,
targeting teachers beliefs, attitudes and practice:
1. Foundational areas: Challenging teachers
beliefs and prejudices, promoting values such
as inclusion and democracy, building
teachers self-confidence and self-reflection,
building a vision for educational change and
the purpose of education (based on NCF
05 and RTE), building a commitment to
childrens learning, understanding
constructivist pedagogy and how children
learn, etc.
2. Practical skills: providing opportunities to
master basic pedagogical skills such as how
to design and conduct activities, classroom
management strategies, handling multi-grade
classrooms, conducting continuous
assessment, etc. through plenty of
demonstrations, easy-to-use tools and
strategies, and opportunities for practice
3. Mastery of Subject Knowledge & Subject
Pedagogy: Identifying areas where teachers
lack confidence in transacting certain areas
of the school curriculum, and providing
specific needs-based support to enable
teachers to understand and confidently teach
difficult concepts in different subjects
76
But merely deciding on the training topics is not
enough. Equally important is the question of how
this training is delivered. If training on values or
methodology is delivered mostly through lecture-
mode, this is not much use. Similarly, training on
subject content needs to be practically linked to
specific topics in the syllabus where teachers and
students face difficulties, giving teachers a chance
to plan and practice specific lessons on those
topics.
In terms of effective training methodology, the
Golden Rule of teacher training can be stated as:
Do unto teachers as you would like them
to do unto students.
The learning process within the training
workshop must mirror the kind of learner-centred
pedagogy we want teachers to implement in their
classrooms. Experiencing such learning for
themselves communicates much more to teachers
than a handout, lecture or presentation ever could.
According to the experience of the NGO Eklavya,
this involves promoting a genuine democratic
discourse during the training sessions, by
respecting teachers opinions, allowing them to
freely air their questions and disagreements,
moving on only after building a consensus on an
issue, rigorously enforcing the teachers right to
know on the basis of an argument, asserting
nothing on the basis of authority but only on the
basis of hard evidences in support, and
facilitating a comparison of their own experiences
with what is being discussed (Batra 2010).
An examination of Adult Learning theories and
Transformative Learning theory (which focuses
on how to bring transformation in adult learners)
can offer useful insights into what processes can
make training into a meaningful journey of
personal transformation for teachers, addressing
their beliefs, attitudes, and practice. Drawing from
this literature (Cranton 2006, King 2005, Mezirow
2000), the following are some important processes
that can contribute to bringing this transformation
in teachers, and some suggested methodologies
that can be used for each of these:
1. Create a safe emotional environment:
Through group activities which allow the
group to bond together, feel safe to share their
personal experiences and views, and where
every individual feels valued (games, group-
bonding activities, sharing personal
experiences, drawing out teachers questions
and concerns early on);
2. Empower confidence and motivation: Help
teachers identify their strengths; give them
small tasks where they can experience
success; constantly affirm their experiences
or responses (skits, games, activities, getting
teachers to share their own successes,
opportunities to showcase their talents,
songs);
3. Focus on the positive: Meeting teachers where
they are and not where the experts think
they should be, and connecting whatever the
issue is to the things that already matter to
them their own core values, personal goals
and interests;
4. Create cognitive dissonance: Exposure to new
information, knowledge, insights, or values
which allow teachers to encounter a point of
view that is different from their own (through
role play, critical debates, case studies,
simulations, games, life histories, presenting
research findings);
5. Inspire with a vision of what is possible:
Show concrete evidence of childrens
capabilities and creativity, or examples of
what teachers in similar contexts have been
able to innovate (presenting evidence of
students work, videos, films, live practical
demonstrations, real stories, narratives,
exposure visits to innovative schools,
classroom observations, teachers sharing
their own stories of transformation);
6. Utilize soul work: Strategies that allow
teachers to be creative and to reflect on their
own values, goals, sense of purpose and
motivation (through use of journal writing,
reflection, artistic projects, poetry, inspiring
quotes, novels, storytelling, getting teachers
to recall their own childhood and schooling
experiences, people who have inspired them,
painful experiences, instances of
discrimination, to examine their prejudices
or biases);
7. Encourage critical self reflection: Discussions
and debates that allow teachers to analyse
their existing beliefs and assumptions, to
77
engage in dialogue with others and
consider alternative perspectives (survey
questionnaires, Likert scales, debates, small
group discussions, classroom scenarios,
visualization exercises, writing or speaking
from a point of view other than your own,
observing children, teachers playing the role
of students, readings and discussions based
on the readings)
8. Facilitate group problem-solving &
consensus on new paths for action: Help
teachers to identify what they perceive as
problems or areas for change, and to
brainstorm together and themselves come up
with practical new strategies to solve
problems around them/ in their classrooms
(case studies, brainstorming, drawing charts,
projects, action research, What if? scenarios
and response, analysing students test
papers, investigating reasons for students
mistakes and misconceptions);
9. Opportunities for practice teaching: Allow
teachers to apply what they have learned in
a real-life classroom setting, preferably with
real children, while receiving encouragement
and constructive feedback from peers and
Trainer (teachers designing their own
activities/ lessons, conducting activities with
children, simulation, role play, writing lesson
plans);
10. Practice incremental changes: Teachers must
leave the training with a concrete plan of
action with specific but small changes and
doable strategies that they can implement in
their classroom which will yield visible
student learning outcomes, which will further
enable an experience of success and change
of beliefs.
Designing a long-term teacher mentoring plan
In order to bring the shift from one-time training
workshops to a continuous process of teacher
professional development, a long-term framework
for Teacher Mentoring must be put in place. The
following are suggested components that should
be included in such a plan:
1. A basket of various opportunities for
ongoing professional development
The training workshop is merely one limited
component of a long-term professional
development plan. A variety of ongoing exposures
must be planned that contribute to teachers
growth: For example, access to rich educational
resources, distribution of good books and articles,
teachers magazines, Book Clubs, skills and
facilities to access internet resources, exposure
visits to innovative schools, platforms for sharing
their experiences, forums for collaboration,
lectures by inspiring speakers, action research
projects, etc. The Block & Cluster Resource Centres
(BRC/CRCs) were originally envisioned as well-
stocked, vibrant Resource Centres that could
provide such platforms for teachers professional
development.
2. Offering training based on teachers needs
A state SSA administrator once noted that SSA
teacher training is often driven by the need for
state governments to meet training targets to
access SSA funds, rather than training being
driven by teachers needs (Ramachandran 2009).
Research around the world has shown that when
education reforms ignore teachers or are not
connected to the daily realities of the classroom,
even the most expensive and well-designed
interventions are almost certain to fail (Craig et al
1998). Training on new pedagogies must keep in
mind the practical challenges teachers face day-
to-day: Classrooms of sometimes 100 children,
one or two teachers in the entire school, multi-
grade classrooms, children who have never before
attended school, high rates of teacher and student
absenteeism. Teachers require strategies that are
implementable in these contexts. In our present
classrooms, diversity among children has
increased (different ages, social backgrounds,
linguistic backgrounds), as well as diversity
among teachers (different educational levels,
service conditions, places of residence, social
backgrounds). A uniform and undifferentiated
training plan for all the teachers in a state or
district simply cannot meet every teachers need.
Careful needs assessment must be conducted
(through field visits, surveys, classroom
observations, informal conversations, assessment
of teachers knowledge and skills), training must
be flexible and adaptable to teachers local needs,
teachers themselves must be involved in
78
designing training programs, and teachers
should be given a choice of what kinds/topics of
trainings they wish to attend.
3. Minimising cascade, selecting & equipping
good trainers
Much transmission loss usually takes place in
government trainings due to the multiple levels
of cascade, which requires creative efforts to
eliminate as many layers of the cascade as possible
(e.g. For rolling out the ABL program, Tamil Nadu
hired 6000 Block Resource Teacher Educators
who were trained directly at state level and gave
training directly to all teachers in the state which
was found to be much more effective than the
cascade). The quality of a training program can
only be as effective as its Trainers. Trainers
themselves need to have a vision for active
pedagogy, must have experienced it for
themselves, must be able to inspire teachers for
change, and must be equipped to effectively
demonstrate it and provide support to teachers.
This requires a rigorous process of selection of
Trainers, based on criteria such as:
Friendly, democratic attitude, respect for
teachers and children, and commitment to
childrens learning;
Enthusiasm, confidence in communicating,
and ability to inspire/ persuade others;
Pedagogical understanding and previous
classroom experience;
Open-mindedness, willingness to learn and
try out new things themselves, interest in
reading and personal growth.
This could be ensured through multiple-day
Selection Workshops where opportunities are
provided to observe candidates training skills
and potential as Trainers based on some of the
above criteria, through group exercises,
presentations by candidates, demonstration of
activities, etc. After selection of strong Trainers,
they must undergo a careful process of capacity-
building by taking them through the same
training program that they must carry out with
teachers, along with additional sessions for
reflection, debriefing, developing participatory
training skills, principles of adult learning and
effective training methodologies.
4. School-based training workshops with
appropriate facilities
For maximum effectiveness, training should be
residential and sessions should be kept to a small
size of no more than 35 participants per session,
to allow participants to bond, open up and share
their personal stories, and feel safe enough to
question their assumptions. Much of the learning
during training takes place in the evenings after
the sessions, when teachers have a chance to get
away from their usual surroundings, and bond
with and share with the other participants. Also,
ideally workshops should be conducted at or near
a school, with sufficient opportunities for
observing and interacting with children during
the course of the training. Finally, maximum
efforts should be taken to show respect to teachers
by providing them with decent comfortable
accommodations during the training the quality
of the accommodations provided often sends
teachers the message that their dignity is not
valued.
5. Clear goals and performance indicators
The training program must be linked to clear pre-
determined objectives that the training aims to
achieve which can include specific performance
indicators for teachers, and certain targets for
improvement in childrens learning. This requires
a shift from trainings that are input-driven to
outcomes-oriented. Trainers should ask
themselves: what will the teacher be doing after
this training that is different from before? And
can I make sure that they have obtained the
competence to put these goals into practice?
During the training workshop, teachers also
should be encouraged to design a Teacher
Improvement Plan with their own personal
targets for self-growth and planned action steps
to achieve each goal, and then have opportunities
in Monthly Meetings to review their progress
against their own targets.
6. Ongoing collaboration through on-site
support and monthly Collaborative
Meetings
As teachers experiment with new approaches,
they need someone to turn to when they face
practical difficulties and questions, and this is
79
where the Trainer must play a proactive role in
providing frequent school-based support to
teachers not as an Inspector, but as an
encouraging friend and cheerleader. Moreover,
teachers need a platform for sharing their
successes, discussing their difficulties, together
brainstorming solutions, and collaboratively
learning from each other, through monthly
Collaborative Meetings. Any examples of good
practices should be publically appreciated,
documented and disseminated, to create an
environment where teachers are motivated to
experiment new things.
7. Monitoring impact of training
Often there is little clarity on what has been the
actual impact of all the many training programs
we have conducted. Having clear pre-determined
training objectives makes it easier to design a
mechanism by which one can assess the
trainings effectiveness in achieving these
objectives. This can be done through a
combination of Feedback Forms, pre-tests and
post-tests, ongoing classroom observations,
tracking improvement in childrens learning, and
larger research studies.
8. Orientation for Administrators
Teachers will not be able to successfully
implement new approaches if their authority
figures do not understand and support the change
they are trying to bring. Teacher Training efforts
cannot focus only on teachers: their Head
Teachers, School Inspectors, Block/District/State
level functionaries, must all be required to attend
a similar training particularly the foundational
areas on beliefs, attitudes, and vision for
pedagogical change in order to be able to
understand and support teachers in the
challenges they encounter.
9. Systemic changes for improving working
conditions & professional identity of
teachers
Teachers practice depends not only on their own
abilities or even desire to teach well, but as much
on the conditions, expectations and rules of
engagement of their working environment both
stated and unstated. The policy environment in
which teachers work often send many mixed
signals about which behaviours are valued and
rewarded. In order to build the eroding
professional identity of teachers, a long-term
Teacher Mentoring Plan must address areas such
as teacher salaries and benefits, working
conditions, presence or absence of incentives to
attract teachers, opportunities for promotion and
career development, teacher professional
standards, systems for accountability. The lack
of promotion opportunities and other incentives
for good teacher performance have been cited as
key factors hindering teacher motivation and
commitment. Avenues should be created for
teachers career mobility, like in Kerala and Tamil
Nadu where teachers are encouraged to upgrade
their educational qualifications, are granted leave
to study and take examinations, and are given
opportunities to move up the education system
ladder to join a high school, DIET or even become
an SCERT Director. Another factor that has
contributed to the erosion of the professional
identity of school teachers has been hiring of
untrained contractual teachers, and
opportunities should be given to help them move
up to regular teacher positions based on
performance and obtaining additional training
& qualifications.
10. Strengthening Pre-service Teacher
Education
Finally, in-service teacher education cannot be
seen in isolation. Stronger links must be forged
with pre-service teacher education programs, with
radical measures needed for revamping teacher
education institutions and programs, in order to
have a long-lasting impact on teachers
professional development.
We live in an era where in the desire to see rapid
results, many educational administrators and
policymakers are looking for the best practices
panacea or the key innovative program, which
once implemented will revolutionise the entire
system. Unfortunately such short-term changes
often remain subject to political whims or changes
in leadership, and simply cannot be sustained.
For any long-term lasting change in our system,
80
teachers must be the key players. Only a system
that can effectively inspire its teachers with a
vision for change, empower them to come up with
their own solutions, and nurture them with the
skills and environment needed to implement these
solutions and to grow as professionals will be
able to create sustainable change in its teachers
and classrooms.
References
Anderson, Lorin W. (2004). Increasing Teacher
Effectiveness (2
nd
Ed.). Paris: UNESCO
International Institute for Education Planning.
Batra, P. (Ed.) (2010). Social Science Learning in
Schools: Perspectives and Challenges. New Delhi:
Sage.
Craig, Helen, Richard J. Kraft and Joy du Plessis
(1998). Teacher Development: Making an Impact.
Washington DC: USAID and The World Bank.
Cranton, Patricia (2006). Understanding and
Promoting Transformative Learning: A Guide for
Educators of Adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Darling-Hammond, Linda and Milbrey W.
McLaughlin. 1995. Policies that support
professional development in an era of reform. Phi
Delta Kappan, April.
Fullan, Michael (1993). Why Teachers Must
Become Change Agents. Educational Leadership
50 (6).
Fullan, Michael and Andy Hargreaves (1992).
Teacher development and Educational Change.
London: Routledge.
Government of India (15-29 January, 2010). Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan 11
th
Joint Review Mission &
Mid Term Review Aide Memoire. [Online].
Available at ssa.nic.in/ssadoc/jrm/
AIDE%20MEMOIRE%2011%20JRM%20with
%20state%20reportss.pdf
King, Kathleen (2005). Bringing Transformative
Learning to Life. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
Mezirow, Jack (2000). Learning as
Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory
in Progress. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework.
New Delhi: NCERT.
Ramachandran, Vimala, Bhattacharjea, Suman
and Sheshagiri, K.M. (2009) Primary School
Teachers: The Twists and Turns of Everyday Practice.
New Delhi: Educational Resource Unit.
81
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83
Ninth E-9 Ministerial review meeting:
Inclusive, relevant quality Education for All
9-10 November, 2012, New Delhi, India
Session of the General Conference, decided to
adopt the theme Inclusive, relevant quality
Education for All for the November 2012-
November 2014 biennium.
The global education quality challenge and its
impact
A range of sources, including EFA Global
Monitoring Reports (GMRs), the Global
Competitiveness Report (GCR), international and
regional assessmentsPISA, PIRLS, TIMSS,
SACMEQ, LLECEnational assessments, and
country-specific sector analyses point to the fact
that most of the developing world is in an
education quality crisis, a crisis they can ill afford!
Equally, a large proportion of developed countries
are yet to deliver quality education and to
facilitate effective learning for all learners. A range
of country-level sector analyses have documented
the weak quality and doubtful relevance of
general education. As one of the proxy measures
of education quality, test scores have a statistically
significant association with real GDP per capita
growth with one standard deviation in test scores
correlating to two per cent annual average growth
in GDP per capita. Poor quality also denies
individual graduates employment
opportunities, the resultant earnings and
improved quality of life. Because the majority of
learners who receive poor quality education are
often from marginalized and poorer segments of
the society, sustaining the current levels of poor
quality education not only denies developing
countries the opportunity for growth, but also the
re-distributive effects of education. Ultimately,
poor education quality risks reinforcing social and
income inequalities and sustaining inter-
generational poverty and marginalization.
Moreover, countries with acute social inequalities
have been shown to be more prone to social
unrests and political instability.
5
Poor education
quality, therefore, is detrimental to poverty
reduction efforts, social equity and inclusion,
Introduction
The last two decades saw a significant increase
in access to education in many countries of the
World. From 1999, sub-Saharan Africa, and South
and West Asia increased their primary net
enrolment ratios by five times and three times the
rate of the 1990s, respectively, reaching 76 per
cent and 86 per cent by 2008. In total from 1999 to
2008, an additional 52 million children enrolled
in primary school.
South and West Asia reduced the number of out-
of-school children by fifty percent a reduction
of 18 million. Sub-Saharan Africa reduced its out-
of-school population by almost a thirda
reduction of 12.5 million, despite a large increase
in the primary school age population. The
proportion of girls among the out-of-school
population declined from 57 percent to 53 percent.
Access to secondary education registered modest
improvement. Though there are wide regional
and country-level disparities, over 60 percent of
children at eligible age were enrolled in 2008.
While many countries have successfully enrolled
millions of boys and girls in schools, a significant
majority of them are actually not effectively
learning, at least, not to levels commensurate to
their educational attainment. This is manifest in
the systems failure to sufficiently prepare
learners for subsequent levels of education, for
trainability and educability, for taking up life-
long learning (LLL) opportunities on their own,
for the labor market and for the world of work.
Though the quality problem is more acute in the
developing world, in part due to the rapid
expansion of access, it is recognized that
improving the quality of education and the equity
of that quality is a global challenge. In terms of
the EFA Goals, Goal 6 Education Quality
appears to be the least to register progress by 2015.
Recognizing the education quality challenge and
the need to address it urgently, the E-9 Ministers
meeting on 29 October 2011, during the 36th
84
social coherence and political stability. It stands
in the way of attaining poverty reduction related
MDGs at an individual, national, regional and
global level. At the same time, it presents obstacles
to attaining the six EFA goals, each of which has
education quality aspects; and particularly goals
2, 5, and 6.
The education quality challenge in E-9 countries
More than half of the world population lives in
the E-9 countries and addressing education
quality effectively in these countries will go a long
way in making a significant dent on the global
education quality challenge. While international
comparable data exist on many aspects of the
education sector it is hard to come by a consistent
set of definition of quality and its measurement.
However, countries take part in some form of
regional or international education achievement
test and most importantly they conduct regular
national assessments. Though not in any way a
unique situation, the following evidence from
international, regional and national assessments
suggest the acuteness of the education quality
problems in many of the E-9 countries but also
that significant progress can be made. The 2009
PISA showed that in Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico
more than 40% of the children after 8 years of
schooling failed to achieve a Level 1 proficiency
in reading. A 2009 national survey showed that
in rural India only 38 percent of grade 4s could
read a text designed for grade 2s. In rural Pakistan
provinces Punjab and Sind only 35 percent of
grade 4s surveyed in 2008 could read a text
designed for grade 2. There is also evidence that
with the right policies and interventions
significant improvements in quality can be
achieved but also gains can quickly evaporate
unless efforts are sustained. For example, national
assessments of Indian primary school children
showed that from 2006 to 2009 the proportion of
grade 5 students able to read a grade 2 text
increased from 44 percent to 64 percent in Punjab
state, but declined from 65 percent to 46 percent
in West Bengal (Pratham Resource Centre, 2010).
In Bangladesh, over 80 percent of students
reaching grade 5 pass the Primary School leaving
Examination. However, in Wazirpur upazila
(subdistrict) in Barisal district, almost all grade 5
students pass the exam, compared with fewer
than half in Jamalganj upazila in Sylhet district.
Improving the quality of the education system
to deliver quality education for all
All countries have the intention and commitment
to deliver quality education to all their citizens
and they make tremendous efforts to achieve that.
Despite all these efforts however, quality remains
low and in some cases is deteriorating. The
question is why the efforts are not bearing fruit
and why improvements are sometimes not
sustained. The problem appears to lie in how the
education quality challenge is addressed. Prior
and current general education quality analyses
and improvement efforts have tended to focus on
specific aspects of education inputs, mostly in
isolation from one another. The most analyzed
inputs are finance, teachers, curricula, school
infrastructure and furniture, books and
instructional materials.
However, it is very rare that even these selected
aspects receive a comprehensive, articulated and
interactive/iterative analysis. Key processes like
assessment, teaching and learning, management
and governance often receive isolated attention.
Most quality analyses have been limited in scope
and fragmented. This has often led to inherently
inconsistent and sometimes contradictory
remedial interventions. It has also, often, led to
uneven and imbalanced improvements of aspects
of the quality. For instance curricula reforms have
not always taken into account the books and
instructional materials, teachers, teaching/
learning processes and assessment methods
required to give them effect. Changes in student
curricula have not always taken into account the
teaching and learning environments where such
curricula are to be implemented, or teachers who
are supposed to implement such curricula.
Conversely, changes to the physical teaching and
learning environments have not always taken the
demands of diverse curricula into account or even
taken into account teachers and learners needs
that have to be met within such environments. A
growing phenomenon that is increasingly
leveraged is technology. Now the ICTs are being
used for teacher development. Hitherto, what seems
to be lacking are tools for systemic analysis and
identification of critical constraints that prevent
Member States from attaining and sustaining intended
levels and equity of education quality and learning
outcomes.
85
The UNESCO education quality analysis
framework
The UNESCO Secretariat, in collaboration with
the Member States, has developed a General
Education Quality/Diagnostic Framework
(GEQAF) that seeks to enable Member States to
analyze/diagnose and identify critical
impediments that prevent their general education
systems to equitably and sustainably provide high
quality education and effective learning
experiences to all learners. The lack of tools is
particularly noticeable in general education (K-
to-12) relative to Higher Education and to
Technical and Vocational Education and
Training. Beyond national and international
examinations which have very limited scope and
longitudinal comparability, general education
systems in most countries do not have a strong
system-wide tradition of diagnosing/analyzing,
improving and assuring quality. Weak analysis
translates into serious gaps in the knowledge base
required to guide the design and implementation of
responsive quality improvement interventions. The
diagnostics/analysis guided by GEQAF is meant to
help Member States strengthen both the qualitative
and quantitative knowledge base required to effectively
guide the design and implementation of responsive,
targeted and timely general education system quality
improvement interventions. Eventually, evidence
from the diagnosis/analysis could be used to
generate country and even sub-country level
qualitative and quantitative indicators for general
education system quality.
GEQAF elements pertain to the development goals
that guide the key outcomes of an education system,
desired outcomes of an education system, the core
processes and core resources that produce those
outcomes and support mechanisms that enable the
production of outcomes.
India and Nigeria have been the first two countries
to apply the GEQAF to analyze, in a systemic and
comprehensive way, their education system both
at national and sub-national levels. These two
countries will share their experience in applying
the UNESCO Education Quality Analysis
Framework and how it can further be improved
and strengthened to serve as a major global tool to
help countries adopt a systemic approach to
improving the quality of their education system. It
has been opportune that the development of the
Framework coincided with the choice of education
quality for the E-9 biennium 2012/2014.
Ninth E-9 Ministerial review meeting
The Ninth E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting to be
held from November 9-10, 2012, in New Delhi,
India, is being organized by the Government of
India in collaboration with UNESCO and E-9
Secretariat. The meeting will focus on the
challenges of improving education quality in and
on how these challenges can be addressed
collectively and cooperatively by E-9 Countries.
The main point of departure will be the
recognition of the systemic nature of the quality
challenge and hence the need for a
comprehensive and systemic approach. In this
regard the UNESCO Education Quality Analysis
Framework will be an important input.
The aim of the meeting is to review the education
quality challenge in the E-9 countries with the
view to identify concrete steps to address those
challenges cooperatively.
Specific objectives:
1. Discuss the GEQAF as a tool that the E-9 can
use to map-out the major challenges and
constraints to the equitable delivery of quality
education and effective learning to all.
2. Share country experiences in addressing the
quality challenge, successes and shortcomings.
3. Identify key areas for cooperation between E-
9 countries to equitably improve education
quality and to effectively facilitate learning.
4. Identify strategies and actions to share the
collective knowledge and experience of E-9
countries to support other countries in their
effort to improve education quality.
Expected results:
1. Adaptation and/or adoption of the GEQAF
as tool the E-9 countries can use during the
biennium.
2. A common action plan and mechanism to take
the education quality, equity of quality and
learning effectiveness forward.
3. A firm and concrete commitment to champion
education quality beyond the E-9 countries.
86
Saurav Shome
Book Review
Anil Dixit, Arvind Gupte, Bharat Pure, Kishore Pawar, Bholeswar Dubey, Sushil Joshi, Javed
Siddique and Uma Sudhir, Jeevan ki ikai - Koshika. 72 pages. Bhopal: Eklavya. 2011.
`
100
teachers, the principal agents of instruction, feel
empowered, the philosophy enshrined in the NCF
2005 will not be realised (NCERT, 2006). Those
teachers who have a rich content knowledge are
more likely to handle the uncertainty arising in
student-centred classrooms. Moreover, teachers
rich subject knowledge enables an understanding,
among those teachers, of the nature and structure
of the subject as well as its connection with other
subjects. One component of teacher
empowerment is to prepare materials pedagogic
strategies and content knowledge (Bruner, 1977).
It is the role of subject experts to prepare materials
and make it accessible to all teachers. It would be
fruitful to select concepts that recur across
different topics in a domain and across the years
of learning. The book on Cell by the expert team of
Eklavya serves this purpose. The content of the
book is not prescriptive. Rather it is flexible and
could serve to enrich teachers content knowledge.
In the Introduction (pp. 7), the authors have even
encouraged teachers to develop their own way of
teaching about the cell after reading this book.
Overall, the module is easy to read and
comprehend. Relevant additional information
and explanations have been provided separately
in the boxes without compromising the lucidity
and continuity of the theme. It appears that the
vocabulary of the module has been carefully
chosen to avoid alienation from familiar context.
Most of the resources used for experiments are
easily available and inexpensive. The
introduction of the chapter sets the rationale,
context, and philosophical underpinning of
preparing such module. The authors rightly
pointed out that there are biological processes like
digestion that can be described without taking
account of the cellular process, however,
understanding of cell throws new light to our
previous understanding. On the other hand
biological processes like reproduction in a living
being can be understood only from the
understanding of cell.
Cell is a fundamental concept in biology because
the understanding of cell helps understanding of
biological processes (Alberts et al. 2004). Despite
the explicit mention of the cell as a "structural
and functional unit of life" in textbooks, children
who use these textbooks still conceptualize cell
as being inside the body, but not as a building
block (Dreyfus and Jungwirth, 1988). Children
of grades 6 and 7 (11-13 years) visualize cell as
two dimensional. Many students of the same age
group cannot connect respiration and energy
production as cellular processes. Many of them
think that plant cells have a definite rectangular
shape, while an animal cell has no definite shape.
They think of cell and nucleus as being like jelly
or butter (Kawalkar and Vijapurkar, 2009).
However, these ideas about cells can be replaced
and restructured through the use of appropriate
teaching learning material.
Towards this, a book for teachers on Cell titled
Jeevan ki ikai Koshika (The unit of life cell)
published by Eklavya under the copyleft licence
is a significant step. Eklavya plans to publish this
material in English as well. The authors have a
long experience of working with students and
teachers from schools and colleges. According to
the authors, the module addressed in the book
has been enriched by comments from
distinguished teachers and educationists as well.
The book includes several appropriate and
attractive photographs and illustrations by Amod
Karkhanish, Karen Haydok, and Meghna
Palshikar. The authors as well as the illustrators
have recognized the significant role played by
visuals in the teaching-learning of science
(Tversky, 2005).
The National Curriculum Framework 2005 has
proposed that teaching learning needs to be child
centred and constructivist, building abstract
concepts from childrens real life experiences. But
the NCF has somehow failed to fully
acknowledge the instrumental role of teachers
(Batra, 2005) in transacting the curriculum. Unless
87
Several curriculum suggests to adopt historical
narrative and "explanatory stories" approach in
science teaching (Millar and Osborn, 1998).
The module presents a story of evolving
understanding of cell from a number of
observation and studies over the centuries. Thus,
the module presents science as a social enterprise
(King et al., 1994), not stories of individuals
success. Scientific knowledge is not the
contribution of a single mind rather product of
many. The knowledge is incremental and
subjected to change in the light of new
observations and findings. A scientist also might
have misconception or incomplete idea(s); by
stating "Even Charles Darwin considered that
each organ has play its role in egg..." (pp. 8). The
knowledge is shareable and reproducible in
several instances, any one can see what Hook
observed; "you too see what Hook observed" (pp.
12). The significance of an invention or discovery
is valued and acknowledged by society and not
determined by the inventor alone, recognition may
not come instantly; "...around 55 years later in
1986 he (Ernst Ruska) was awarded Nobel Prize"
(pp.24).
The module has four chapters. In the first one
titled, Koshika Khoj ki kahaani (Cell - Story of the
discovery), tells the journey of understanding the
cell and organelles as a historical narrative. There
are four important clarifications made in the
chapter viz.
1) Why typical textbook pictures of cell does not
match with observation? (pp. 25)
2) A note on "republic of living elementary
units" serves a nice introduction of "system"
and its fundamental unit. Especially the
distinction between the work for individual
existence and the other for the community
level. The property of whole is different from
its constituent (pp. 28).
3) The role of evolving technologies in
generating new knowledge, for example,
development of electron microscope widens
our understanding of cell.
4) Using 3D pictures and original photographs
reduce several misconception and doubts
regarding the shape and proportional size of
cell or cell organelles. It links what students
observed in their school laboratories.
The story of exploration of cells starts with the
use of lenses during the mid seventeenth century
to see the small and unobserved things. Presenting
several activities (viz. observation of a slice of cork,
membrane of onion and human squamous cell),
an attempt has been made to introduce students
with the early observation of cell and involve them
in the same journey. A novel attempt is made to
complement textbook photographs of cell with the
actual observation carried out by students with
simple microscope. The relevant informations
about compound microscope, electron
microscope, and centrifuge are also mentioned.
The second chapter Koshika aaye kahan se (where
did the cells come from?) questions the origin of a
cell. The chapter laid the motivation of inquiry
through three steps: a) observing microscopic
organisms found in pond or drain water b)
investigating the theory of spontaneous
generation and contribution of Francesco Redi
and Louis Pasteur in refuting the possibility of
spontaneous generation c) understanding cell as
structural and functional unit in the context of
life cycle of frog.
The division of cell is discussed in chapter three,
Koshika se koshika (Cells from a cell). After defeat
of the spontaneous regeneration theory, question
remained on where actually the new cells came
from? Schleiden considered that the new cell
develops from the "cytoplast". Using staining
technique, Strasburger and Flemming observed
that nucleus consists of other components too.
Some of them undergo changes and take part in
cell division. The observation confirmed the theory
that cell originates from another cell only. The
major attraction of the chapter is the activity with
onion roots to observe the phases of cell division.
In the end the chapter provides a short relevant
introduction on cancer cells and stem cells.
In the last chapter, Koshika siddhant: aage badate
kadam (cell theory - ever chaning steps), the
division of cell and gradual differentiation of their
role is discussed. The body of a multicellular living
being is not just a pile of cells, it is a coordinated
system of cells. In a multicellular body of living
beings cluster of cells perform differential tasks.
However, there is a difference between plant and
animal cell. In optimum condition a plant cell
from any part of the plant has potential to grow
up to a complete plant, whereas, cell from any
part of a multicellular animal will not grow up to
88
a complete animal. It is worth appreciating that
in this chapter the authors introduced cloning
and biotechnology in a lucid style. Incorporating
the ethical and social dimensions of cloning and
genetic engineering, the authors prepared a
platform for engaging students in argumentation
of socio-scientific issues (Jimenez-Aleixandre and
Erduran, 2007).
The evolving understanding of cell helps explain
the unity as well as diversity among the living
beings which leads to a better understanding of
evolution of life. The same fundamental structure
in all living being indicates that living diversity
actually evolved from one primitive living entity.
However, questions remain on how that
primitive living entity appeared? Under what
circumstances inorganic substances formed a
living cell?
At the end of four chapters, the authors present a
time line related to cell and cell theory. In
appendix description of compound microscope,
necessary precautions in using microscope and
suggestions of further activities enrich the
modules practical utility for the users. The
module would be a valuable reference material
for teachers as well as students of middle, high
and even secondary level.
The module has shown some unique characters
while building concepts of cell, through
addressing possible misconceptions about cell,
demystifying the microscopic observation of cells,
integrating nature of science, and presenting the
entire content as historical narrative. Good quality
real photographs of cells are indeed a treasure
of the module. However, the effectiveness of the
module is largely based on the primary target
group, the teachers, those who are going to use
the module. The underlying philosophy in
writing the module needs to be in tune with that
of teachers during their classroom transaction.
This bridge can easily be built through a series of
workshops and long term collaboration with
teachers.
References
Alberts, B., Bray, D., Hopkin, K., Johnson, A.,
Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K. and Walter, P. (2004).
Essential cell biology. New York: Garland
Science.
Batra, P. (2005). Voice and agency of teachers:
Missing link in National Curriculum Framework
2005. Economic and Political Weekly, 40 (40),
4347-4356.
Bruner, J. S. (1977). The process of education.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press.
Dreyfus, A. and Jungwirth, E. (1988). The cell
concept of 10th graders: curricular expectations
and reality. International Journal of Science
Education, 10 (2), 221 229.
Jimenez-Aleixandre, M. P. and Erduran, S. (2007).
Argumentation in science education: An
overview. In Sibel Erduran and Maria Pilar
Jimenez-Aleixandre (Eds.), Argumentation in
science education: Perspectives from classroom-
based research. New York: Springer.
Kawalkar, A. and Vijapurkar J. (2009). What do
cells really look like? Confronting childrens resistance
to accepting a 3-D model. In K. Subramaniam and
A. Mazumdar (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME-3:
An International Conference to Review Research
in Science, Technology and Mathematics
Education, (pp 94-100). Mumbai: Macmillan
Publishers India Ltd.
King, G., Keohane, R. O., and Verba, S. (1994).
Designing social inquiry: Scientific inference in
qualitative research. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Millar, R. and Osborn, J. (1998). Beyond 2000:
Science education for the future, The report of a
seminar series funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
London: Kings College.
NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework
2005. New Delhi: NCERT.
NCERT (2006). Position paper: National Focus
Group on Science Teaching. New Delhi: NCERT.
Tversky, B. (2005). Visuo-spatial reasoning. In K.
Holyoak & R. Morrison (Eds.), The Cambridge
handbook of thinking and reasoning (Chapter 10).
Cambridge: MA: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN: 978-81-906971-4-9; Available from:
www.eklavya.in
89
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90
Abbreviations
B.Ed. : Bachelor of Education
B.El.Ed. : Bachelor of Elementary Education
BA : Bachelor of Arts
COL : Commonwealth of Learning
CPD : Continuous Professional Development
CTE : College of Teacher Education
CWSN : Children with Special Needs
D.Ed. : Diploma in Education
DEO : District Education Officer
DIET : District Institute of Education and Training
DISE : District Information System for Education
DPEP : District Primary Education Program
ECCE : Early Childhood Care and Education
EDI : EFA Development Index
EFA : Education for All
EU : European Union
GoI : Government of India
HEI : Higher Education Institutions
IASE : Institute of Advanced Studies in Education
IEDC : Integrated Education for Disabled Children
ICDS : Integrated Child Development Services
ICT : Information Communication Technology
M.Ed. : Master of Education
MDG : Millennium Development Goals
MHRD : Ministry of Human Resource Development
MOSJE : Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
NCF : National Curriculum Framework
NCFTE : National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education
NGO : Non Government Organization
NUEPA: National University of Educational Planning and Administration
ODL : Open and Distance Learning
Ph.D. : Doctor of Philosophy
PISA : Program for International Student Assessment
PPP : Public Private Partnership
RMSA : Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abiyan
RTE : Right to Education
SCERT : State Council of Educational Research and Training
SEN : Special Educational Needs
SMC : School Management Committee
SSA : Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
TE : Teacher Education
UEE : Universalization of Elementary Education
UPE : Universalization of Primary Education Abbreviations

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