The original sin of failure to build sufficient teacher training institutions is being compounded by the imposition of under-qualified and untrained teachers upon the school system. Almost half of the country’s 4.7 million elementary school teachers have not studied beyond class XII. Summiya Yasmeen reports Suddenly education of india’s 450 million children (below 18 years of age) — the largest child population in the world — hitherto a peripheral blip, is beginning to loom large on the radar screens of the Central and state governments. Education — particularly secondary schooling — is all set to receive a belated but massive boost in the Eleventh Plan period (2007-12) with 20 percent of the plan outlay (Rs.36,44,147 crore) allocated for education. On December 19, the National Development Council — a collegium of all state chief ministers — unanimously approved the Plan. Earlier in his annual address to the nation on Independence Day (August 15) prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh announced a slew of new projects in the education sector including 6,000 high quality schools, 30 Central universities, 370 colleges in the states, 1,600 ITIs, 10,000 vocational schools and 50,000 skill development centres at an aggregate price (estimated by EducationWorld) of Rs.275,100 crore. But in the midst of this new official enthusiasm for expanding capacity in primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education, teacher training and development is likely to emerge as a blindspot of the UPA government and the Eleventh Plan. Even though the approach paper to the Eleventh Plan admits that “teacher training is both inadequate and of poor quality and needs to be expanded and improved,” it doesn’t dwell on the subject of augmenting teacher training infrastructure. Against this backdrop Elementary Education in India: Analytical Report 2005-06, a detailed 422 page study published by the Delhi-based National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), should serve as a wake-up call. EEI 2005-06 confirms that almost half of the country’s 4.7 million elementary school teachers have not studied beyond class XII, while a quarter of them have not studied beyond secondary school i.e. class X. The study, conducted across 35 states and Union territories of India, reveals that a mere 35 percent of teachers in classes I-VIII are graduates, and only 17 percent are postgraduates. Given that almost half of the country’s total school teachers’ force hasn’t studied beyond higher secondary school, and with the teacher-pupil ratio averaging 1:60 (according to the World Bank) and 1:40 (according to the government of India), it’s a moot point where qualified teachers will emerge from to teach in these promised institutions. Quite clearly the 8 lakh school teachers churned out annually by the country’s 8,000 teacher training colleges aren’t enough. That’s why desperate state governments are already resorting to hiring under-qualified teachers. “Distribution of teachers by educational qualification reveals that 45.34 percent of teachers who impart elementary education in the country’s schools are higher secondary and below school leavers. A few are even below secondary level. Irrespective of the school type, only 0.40 percent of teachers have M.Phil and Ph D degrees,” says…
