National body for controlling teachers largely welcomed

New Delhi: With the passage of a teachers education council bill, parliament has again created a national body to regulate teachers. Most educationists feel an all-controlling organization will maintain the same standard of learning across the country but some are sceptical of the legislation's practicability.

Under the National Council of Teachers Education (Amendment) Bill, 2010, the power of deciding a teacher's qualification will now rest with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

The Rajya Sabha passed the bill Aug 25 and the Lok Sabha Sep 2. It will now go to President Pratibha Patil for her assent, after which it will become law.

The NCTE was established in 1995 to regulate schools and lay down qualification standards for teachers.

It was reduced to a training body for teachers by a Supreme Court judgment of 2008 which left the responsibility of determining the quality of teachers to the states.

The bill was tabled in parliament last year and sent to a parliamentary standing committee.

"There was a fear that if this judgement were to be acted upon, we would have a situation arising in the country where different states would have different qualifications for their teachers, which, of course, is not acceptable," Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal had said while introducing the bill in the upper house.

The amendment now restores the powers of NCTE. It will give NCTE the power to govern and lay principles for teachers' appointment in all schools.

"It amends the earlier act for the NCTE to set standards for teachers that are consonant with the Right to Education Act (RTE)," Anita Rampal, head of the Department of Education, Delhi University told IANS.

The RTE provides free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years.

The provisions of the new bill will apply to teachers in colleges as well as schools, recognized by the centre and the state.

It will be applicable to schools providing pre-primary, primary, upper-primary, secondary, and intermediate education.

"It should help bring uniformity of standards across states - for determining the quality of teachers and their qualifications as has been mandated by the RTE," Rampal said.

However, not all feel that centralization of setting standards for teachers would be the best idea.

A Delhi University professor, who did not want to be named, said it could lead to intensification of the paradox wherein higher quality standards will further limit the availability.

"Centralization is not the best idea for determining teachers' standards. Already, the number of qualified teachers is less. It will lead to lesser number of teachers being available," the professor said.

"But the schools have to run. So they will then take lesser qualified teachers...and will pay them less," she said.

According to the latest figures available with HRD ministry, the pupil-teacher ratio in 2008-09 was 44:1 at the primary level and 34:1 at the upper primary level. At the secondary and higher-secondary level, it was 32:1 and 37:1 respectively.

The standard ratio provided by the RTE is 30:1.

However, as against this ratio the centre has relaxed the qualification of teachers till the states can train enough teachers to fit the RTE standards.

According to official estimates, the shortage of teachers at elementary level is close to 1.2 million.

The government however says, the legislation will bring down the disparities in standards of education across the country.

"If all states have different standards of teaching, how will we ever be able to have a uniform education system," an HRD ministry official asked.

"Ultimately, the right to education is aimed at providing equal education to all. This also means equal standards of education," he said.