Telangana: Private schools sulk to train their teachers

Hyderabad: Nearly 30 to 40 per cent of teachers in private schools in Telangana state are unqualified, say education experts. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, mandates that all in-service teachers get a D.Ed (Diploma in Education) through the distance education mode or from a recognised teacher training institute.

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has set a time frame of five years to acquire the qualification. However, most private schools recruit teachers through walk-in interviews, according to the Telangana Teachers’ Association, which says further that a majority of such teachers take up teaching jobs to pass time, or to escort their kids to school, or because it is considered a safe and convenient job in the case of women.  

C. Ravi, general secretary of the Telangana State United Teachers’ Federation, says that most private schools do not follow the qualification requirement due to which the five-year deadline has been extended by two more years. “In government schools we have enough trained teachers, but there is a shortage of trained teachers in private schools. Nearly 30 to 40 per cent teachers are untrained in private schools in the state. We welcome this decision of the ministry of human resources development. All states must insist that all school managements send their teachers for training to acquire (the qualification) within the stipulated time,” Mr Ravi said.

Nagati Narayana, an education expert said, “Even though Mr Javadekar (Union HRD minister) has proposed online courses for training teachers, managements of private schools wouldn’t accept and recommended their untrained teachers to get the training because after training they may have to enhance the salaries.”
Dr Narsimha Reddy, principal of HPS Ramanthpur, said, “Unfortunately, spoken English has become the biggest qualification to teach in most private schools, but, teaching is much broader than what we are perceiving today. In most of the advanced countries, professional degrees like B.Ed and other courses are valid for three years. One needs to pass the refresher course again to teach, otherwise they are not eligible. We should certainly have that kind of system in India too.” If teachers are not trained, they cannot understand the psychology of the child and may stand in the way of their progress and growth.

“This is especially true for younger children since the range of normal for them is so wide. Untrained teachers may assume something is wrong with a child who is normal but beyond the range of what the teacher knows. Children are not little adults; they are children who are unique and different and need the right support and guidance to grow and adapt to the world,” said Dr Diana Monteiro, a counselling psychologist.

Experts sceptical on Javadekar plan:

School teachers’ who do not have the minimum qualification mandated under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, will not be allowed to continue in service after April 1, 2019, Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said recently. Mr Javadekar stated that teachers who don’t have the minimum qualifications but are teaching in classes one to eight under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme are being given a last chance to become qualified in the next two years. In a video conference, Mr Javadekar also ordered all state education ministers to begin taking action against teachers who do not register with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) portal by September 15.

Educationists in the state say it is impossible to train such a huge number of teachers in such a short period of time. Nagati Narayana, education activist, says that in Telangana state, out of 2.5 lakh teachers working in private schools, nearly 1.8  lakh are untrained.  “As per Mr Javadekar’s deadline, teachers must finish their training by March 31, 2019, for which only 17 months are left.  Course duration of D.Ed and B.Ed courses is minimum two years. So is it possible to finish two years training in 17 months?,” he asked.

He adds that even if teachers leave their jobs in order to undergo the training, “after acquiring it, is there any guarantee that they can resume their jobs in the same school? HRD minister Prakash Javdekar’s proposal is not practical.”