The Centre has decided to freeze granting of approval to new teacher training and education institutes, as well as to the certificate, diploma and degree programmes in the sector for a period of one year from 2018.

It has also decided not to accept applications from the existing teacher training and education institutions for increasing their intake for the academic session 2018-19.
The move follows the government’s decision to completely overhaul the current regulatory mechanism and the structure of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

“The existing regulatory mechanism and structure for teacher education needs to be streamlined to improve the quality of education in the country. Schools can have quality teachers only when there are quality teacher education and training institutes. We are working on it and will soon come up with measures to address the prevailing situation,” a top Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry official told DH.

The NCTE, created as a statutory body in August 1995, functions under the HRD Ministry. Its mandate covers the whole gamut of teacher education programmes, including research and training to ensure that only well-equipped teachers take up the teaching roles not only in formal schools but also in other institutions offering non-formal education, adult education and distance education.

“Teacher education sector has been plagued by various anomalies and irregularities. There is need to stem the rot to ensure quality and transparency in the functioning of the teacher training and education institutes. We have many proposals and suggestions in our hands to bring reforms in the teacher-education sector. We are looking at them,” the HRD Ministry official said.

The holding of a common entrance test for the four-year integrated degree programmes in education, offered by many universities and teacher-training institutes, is one of the proposals with the Ministry plans to introduce.

The proposed common entrance test could be conducted for admissions to both the government and private educational institutions, which offer BA, BEd and BSc, BEd programmes.

“If such an entrance test is conducted for Class XII students, teacher education and training institutes would get best of the candidates willing to take up teaching as a career. But, along with this, appointment procedures have to be streamlined. If the governments fill up vacant posts of teachers every year, instead of opening the gates once in five years, people will start seeing teaching as a career right after their senior secondary,” the official added.