Primary
education in India is subject to two extreme but contrary deficiencies. On the one hand, millions of young children
in lower income groups, especially rural and girl children, comprising nearly 40% of first grade entrants’ never complete
primary school. Even among those who do, poorly qualified teachers, very high student-teacher ratios, inadequate teaching materials and out-dated teaching methods result in low quality of
education that often imparts little or no real learning. c schools to lack even rudimentary reading and writing skills. At the other end of the social and educational spectrum, children attending urban schools, especially middle and upper class children in private schools, are subjected to extreme competitive pressures from a very early age to acquire basic language skills and memorize vast amounts of information in order to qualify for admission into the best schools.
Rising concern over compulsory learning at an early age is prompting many educators to advocate dramatic steps to counter the obsession with premature and forced teaching practices. Between these two extreme positions, lie wide arrays of mostly mediocre practices. Rarely do we find the educational system fostering the natural process of spontaneous, self-motivated self-education in which children learn just as they play and as a form of play out of their innate curiosity and urge to acquire knowledge of the environment. The Declaration on Universal Primary Education followed by the World Conference on Education for All and the World Summit on Children in the early 90''s have reaffirmed to ''improve the quality and relevance of primary education programs by intensifying the efforts to improve the status of training and condition of teachers to improve learning content and material, and to carry out other necessary reforms of our education system''. This spirit has been reiterated in the revised National Policy on Education (NPE, 1992) by stating that ''it shall be ensured that free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality is provided to all children up to 14 years of age before we enter the 21st century''.
In recent years, the whole edifice of quality school education has crumbled – leading to deterioration of Teaching, Teachers and Teacher Education. The contemporary model of teacher education though has grown manifold over the decades, but is overshadowed by severe criticism for being static and unresponsive to the emerging challenges of the present time. The knowledge, skills and methodologies propagated by the system remain alien and never get assimilated in the school system. Teacher education continues to be viewed in isolation, disconnected from other factors that shape the role and performance of a teacher — recruitment, salary, working conditions and overall professional development. Over the years, few initiatives have been taken for betterment but results are not convincing. Quality improvement of our teacher education program is one of the indispensable needs, that calls for immediate attention
Undoubtedly, the quality of school education is the direct consequence and outcome of the quality of teachers and the teacher education system. More so, in this era of globalization, teachers are exposed to increasingly challenging changes, uncertainties and expectations as they perform their professional duties. In addition to teaching, they are often required to take up expanded roles and responsibilities related to school management, curriculum planning, teacher mentoring, etc. In such a complex environment, effective career-long teacher development programs that build teacher capacities and professional competencies are of crucial importance to quality education.
All this implies the ‘Central position’ occupied by the teacher who is seen as essentially a
means-ends broker and teaching is conceived as a technical exercise, an applied science, concerned with, according to, the criteria of
means-end efficiency. This is equally valid for teacher educators who are responsible and accountable for providing quality training to the would – be teachers. Education and training of teacher educators is a pre-requisite for effective changes in the training and orientation of teachers. It has to focus its attention on the new role of teacher educators on the problems which reflect the emerging global trends in education and the overall needs and aspirations of the people in India. , thus making teacher education more responsible and responsive.
The preparation and up-gradation of human resources in any field require long-term and sustained effort. Hence, a strategic vision towards quality teacher education is essential to transform teacher education as a strategy in itself. Teacher education as a continuous process needs prioritization to implement an alternative paradigm for quality teacher education. The school community and the teacher training institutions have to move towards building a shared commitment for a paradigm shift in teacher education. Hence an alternative paradigm towards quality teacher education does not call for more of the same—more time, more subjects, more courses—but for a transformation based on its utility for the school and the society. In the new millennium, teacher education should be built on the premise : ‘teacher education—of the people, by the people and for the people to attain
Quality Education for All’ .