Help! We need better teachers

A brand-new education policy is in the offing and all I see around me are the all too familiar signs of either cynicism or nervousness. Over the decades, policies have been made, unmade and remade, HRD ministers and education secretaries have come and gone and school education remains as dismal as ever. All this is because the schoolteacher, supposedly the “fulcrum around which school education revolves”, is always insensitively ignored or foolishly neglected.

It is universally accepted that a nation’s culture, well-being, economy and indeed its very future depends on the quality of its basic education, which in turn depends on its teachers. Yet nothing has been done to improve either the lot or the quality of schoolteachers in India. We urgently need many more teachers and better ones.

The National Education Policy 2016 mentioned the need to regain the position of respect that the teacher once had in Indian society. But society is quick to point out that respect must be “earned” and today’s teachers are hardly deserving of respect.

Indeed, when we criticise and bemoan the state of school education in our country, we blame the challenge of sheer numbers, the acute shortage of trained teachers, teacher absenteeism and poor quality of teaching. But we should blame ourselves too. What has the government or society done for the nation’s teachers, apart from paying them lip service? Why is it that only teachers are expected to lead spartan lives and live on meagre salaries because they have opted to pursue a “noble” profession? Aggrieved teachers who feel they have been shortchanged will never make good teachers. They will definitely look for other sources of income. It is largely due to this that the canker of private tuition has got embedded in our system, and there is a proliferation of commercialised private coaching centres all across the country.

We keep talking about the shortage of teachers. Yet the powers that be think nothing of using government-employed teachers to serve their political ends. They are used for campaigning and for other election-related work and, of course, teachers are heavily politicised — it is said that only teachers with the “right” political leanings are recruited. The causes of absenteeism are many. The policy regarding a steady supply of trained teachers has been quite shortsighted.

Experts claim that a one-year teacher training course is inadequate and now this has been extended to two years, while a degree in teacher education can be obtained in four years. But it is not the length of the course but the quality of training that really matters more. In view of the woeful shortfall of teachers (five lakh at last count), there should be a provision for shorter, effective training courses and structured ways of prolonged mentoring by experienced colleagues on the job.

A meaningless rule that is now in place is an age bar of 40 years for aspiring teachers. The irony is that due to a general shortage of teachers, both government and private institutions are being permitted to employ retired teachers.

The widespread concern on the poor quality of teachers has never been properly addressed. In other words, the professional development of our existing teachers has never been attended to. Teachers must be lifelong learners and they must be encouraged to invest in continuous professional development. Unfortunately, there is no official provision for refresher courses or upgradation of teachers, and they are largely left to their own devices.

The National Council For Teacher Education (NCTE) states: “No nation can even marginally slacken its efforts in giving necessary professional inputs to its teachers and along with that due status to their stature and profession.” But all we have to show is a mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test administered by “the appropriate government” to bring about standardisation in the recruitment process. It is doubtful if teacher quality has been enhanced in any way through this. Nor has it encouraged in-service teachers to upgrade their skills. Professional development is much more than attending the odd workshop — there must be a proper system of continuing education.

As Atul Sabnis writes in an article on the need for continuous professional development for teachers, a doctor, lawyer or accountant is expected to be up-to-date in his/her knowledge and methodology and in some cases professional development is linked with his right to continue practising his profession, and licences are required to be renewed periodically. This is not so with schoolteachers.

Just holding an eligibility test isn’t enough — like other exams in our country, passing TET is soon reduced to mastering guidebooks containing readymade answers to sample questions. It is imperative to mentor and assist teachers to be in tune with best practices across the world and an effective way of doing this is to learn from one another in stimulating classroom environments.

Prof. Tamo Chattopadhyay had come to India from the United States to try out a quick and inexpensive way of developing the skills of our so-called “poor quality” teachers by exposing them to “good” classroom teaching in an appropriate learning environment. But, sadly, his model, which he called “School is the best college”, never took off due to lack of support. He eventually returned to the US. I only wish we had given his model a chance. I was reminded of Prof. Chattopadhyay’s venture when I came across an Economist article last month on how ordinary teachers can be taught to achieve great heights — just as athletes can be coached to deliver their “personal best”.

“An education system is as good as its teachers”, states the T.S.R. Subramanian Committee, now engaged in preparing the New Education Policy for India. Acknowledging that India has paid a heavy price for the neglect of teacher education, the committee concluded that “some drastic, even unpopular measures” were needed to improve the quality of teacher education and teachers. I only hope the “drastic measures” won’t result in making teachers even more miserable. Concrete and positive steps must be taken to uplift the status of schoolteachers and improve their competence if we wish to ensure a secure future for India.