Panel wants govt to recruit 'talented' teachers irrespective of degree

A committee, set up by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), has suggested that government should consider recruiting “talented” people for teaching in schools to fill vacancies even if they do not have any diploma or degree in education.

Such candidates may be appointed teachers in the schools on the basis of their academic background and performance in the teacher eligibility tests (TET), conducted by various states for the purpose of recruitment.

A system of providing professional training can be brought in for such recruits. They can also take up teaching courses in open and distance learning mode, the panel suggested in its report, to be placed before CABE in its meeting on October 9.

“TET should be made compulsory for teacher recruitment as the necessary culmination for each of the alternate pathways that are developed and should be open to all candidates including those who do not have either diploma or a bachelor’s degree qualification or have them from non-NCTE recognised institutes,” it said.

The panel also suggested that government should strive for making teaching profession more lucrative by streamlining the system and work envisionment with better salary package.

The CABE, headed by the Human Resource Development Minister, is the highest decision making body on education. The panel was constituted by it to suggest framework for implementation of a national mission proposed to be launched by the HRD Ministry to bring quality in education by various measures to improve teachers training and education.

The committee, in its report, has also recommended opening of placement cells at teacher training institutes to facilitate schools with an easy access to trained manpower to fill vacancies. It stressed making admissions to teacher training programmes more “rigorous” and “highly selective”. The government should award stipend to candidates pursuing diploma and degree courses in education. “There is an immediate need to lay down performance standards and benchmarks for such institutions with clear accountability for them to function effectively,” it underlined.

The panel noted that there was a “total absence of standard setting” for performance of teachers at various levels and “suitable systems” of recognition and incentives for “meritorious work”.

“Given the proliferation of low-quality teacher training institutes, it is important that suitable outcome measures be developed for rating and improving teacher training programmes. It may be possible to rate teacher training institutions on the basis of the TET scores of their graduates,” it advised.

The schools should offer “competitive compensation” in terms of salaries so that the financial rewards from teaching suffice to attract and retain top students given the dynamics of the national markets in other professions.

Experienced teachers, principals or specialists could be identified as coaches for observing classes of new teachers and offering them feedback.

School leaders should help plan schedules in way that teachers can spend enough time planning together, observing one another’s classes and providing feedback, the panel suggested.