• Dr. Gururaj Karajagi, Chairman, Academy for Creative Teaching, (ACT)

#480, 6th Main, H.M.T. Lay out, R.T. Nagar,

Bangalore – 560032

There are many areas where changes can be brought about. Pranati Panda in her paper rightly identifies the following necessary changes:

Structural changes.

Enhancing entry qualifications.

Shift from class teacher to subject teacher.

Changes in practice teaching.

Increase in programme duration.

Mode of teacher preparation.

STRUCTURAL CHANGES :

The school education in India is structured at four levels, i.e., pre-primary, elementary (I – VIII), secondary (IX – X) and senior secondary (XI – XII). But the teacher education is not properly synchronized with these levels. It is found that the teachers possessing T.C.H/D.Ed. teaching classes from I – V and in some other cases, up to class VIII also. The B.Ed. teachers are also eligible for teaching classes VI – XII. This poses an anomaly. It may so happen that some sections of classes VI and VII may be taught by teachers with D.Ed. qualifications and some sections by the teachers with B.Ed. degrees. It is found that teachers with B.Ed. degrees find it difficult to teach subjects like Mathematics and Science for classes VI and VII where different skill sets are required to handle the new curriculum. On the other hand, the teachers with B.Ed. degree find it difficult to teach the IX and X standard classes where the subject specific instruction is needed. Hence it is appropriate that the teacher education should be remodeled in such a way that there is no overlapping and separate skill sets are taught to the students taking up D.Ed. and B.Ed.

1. ENHANCING ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS:

A decade ago, it was assumed that lower qualifications are enough to teach at lower level. But that argument is no more true today. It is generally found that the basic qualification to take up D.Ed. i.e., Pre-University is inadequate in handling the new school curriculum. The teacher training programmes have not emphasized more on content enrichment. Hence it is desirable that graduation be made mandatory for taking up the primary teacher education programme. This is true with secondary and senior secondary school curriculum also. The basic qualification for entry into a B.Ed. programme should be raised to the post graduation level.