QUALITY CONCERN IN TEACHER EDUCATION

QUALITY CONCERN IN TEACHER EDUCATION : A QUALITATIVE
APPROACH
Dr. Alok Chantia* & Dr. Preeti Misra**
*Lecturer, Dept. of Anthropology, Sri J.N.P.G. College, (KKC) Lucknow; E-Mail
alokchantia@rediffmail.com
** Lecturer, Dept of Human Rights, School for Legal Studies, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar
University, Lucknow; E-Mail misra9us@gmail.com
Man created culture for his smooth survival and spread all over the world . The earning
of livelihood became an important aspect of life after coming into existence of culture as
many physiological changes occurred during the process of evolution. In cultural set up it
became very difficult for a human being to survive as his digestive system was not as
strong as that of an animal .Therefore he became victim of circumstances. After the
coming into existence of state, man searched for employment and other resources so as to
earn his livelihood and survive in this cruel world.
In present world education provides a new way of earning and subsistence. Now a
person can lead a decent way of life with the help of education. Today specialized
education is required due to the advancement of technology and knowledge. Catering to
the need and requirement of students various educational institutions have been
established of higher learning by the University Grants Commission (UGC).The idea is to
provide quality education by bringing qualified and quality candidates for lecturer ship.
Besides UGC and State government provide various grants to the University and
Colleges for improving the standard of Higher Education.
In olden times gurukuls were the highest seat of learning. The bondage between the gurus
and disciples were very strong as both had great respect for each other. This respect
towards each other arose from the knowledge that emanated from the teachers and well
received and imbibed by the disciples. Even gurus had the prerogative of choosing their
disciples and that is why knowledge was only imparted to those who really deserved it.
But with the decline of monarchy and coming up of democracy education was made
accessible for all. The Indian constitution imposes a duty on all states to take measures
for ensuring education for all. Now by 93rd Amendment Act a new Article 21 A has been
incorporated under Part III of the constitution ensuring education as fundamental right.
Due to lack of infrastructure on the part of the government a number of private and self
financing colleges and universities were opened to cater to the growing demand of
education. But these private educational institutions have become commercial ventures;
they are more interested in minting money than providing quality education. There is no
control on the number of students admitted in such institutions. The prescribed teacher
taught ratio is not maintained; hence teachers are over burdened today.
In Lucknow 69 colleges are running, out of which only 03 are government degree
colleges, 46 govt. aided colleges and 20 self finance colleges. In J.N.P.G. (KKC) college
alone approximately 11000 students are enrolled. One can easily imagine the number of
students who are seeking admissions in pursuit of knowledge in these institutions.
University statute provides for admission of 60 students per class and in exceptional
cases this number may be enhanced to 80 per class with the permission of the vice
chancellor. Thus in present scenario the teacher taught ratio has gone hay ware, putting
extra burden on teachers.
Today maximum educational institutions are being run by guest faculty or by contractual
teachers which is also adversely affecting teaching standards. The whole syllabus has to
be completed within 180 days teaching. But in reality the working days in university and
colleges are less than prescribed. In current session only 154 days teaching has been done
in Rajendra Prasad College,119 days teaching in KKC and 150+ days teaching in the
university. It is very difficult to finish the course within 120-150 days teaching and
maintain the quality of education.
But in the name of funds crisis, lack of posts, ban on government jobs and continuous
retirement of teachers the higher education standard has reached to its nadir. Today
neither government nor institutions are serious and interested in providing quality
education, they are only interested in running their institutions any how for earning huge
profits as an industry. All this has done no good to the higher education, it has only
adversely affected the quality of higher education.
The idea of appointing teachers on contractual basis to meet the crisis of teachers has
done no good to the higher education. It has only adversely affected the quality of higher
education. The contractual teacher means a teacher who works on payment for per
lecturer basis. He is not entitled to any other facilities as enjoyed by their fellow
permanent teachers to enjoy the life of dignity as ensured by our Constitution and other
international conventions. The recruitment process itself explains the pathetic condition
of contractual teachers. In the month of June or July vacancies regarding teaching
positions for various subjects on contractual basis are advertised in local newspapers by
different institutions. A number of candidates apply for these posts without any proper
course. After some screening names of successful candidates on merit basis are sent to
the Higher Education Directorate, Allahabad for approval. The candidate has to wait for
long as approval from Directorate comes in the month of October or November. After
getting information of his appointment a candidate joins on the affidavit that he/she will
not demand his/her regularization in future.
All this procedure adversely affects teaching as well as future of students too, as every
college is either affiliated or associated with some University where academic calendar
begins in July itself. Some Departments in colleges are having only one or two posts of
teachers and whole of the department is to be run by contractual teachers only. Presently
in the Lucknow University Academic Calendar runs from 16 July to end of February as
final exams are held from First of March. The whole procedure shows that a contractual
lecturer gets only 3 to 4 months of teaching as various holidays are there during this
period of teaching. Since there is no job security and contractual teacher is always under
the fear of being thrown out on one reason or the other, he does not take full interest in
the teaching. Besides the payment given to contractual teachers is also meager, they keep
on searching for alternative means of earning instead of paying full attention to their
assigned job of teaching. Here it is submitted that in order to improve the quality of
teaching regular appointments of teachers should be done.
Apart from these administrative problems there are certain other factors affecting the
quality of teaching. Teaching used to be a natural inherent quality of a person .those
persons used to join teaching who were passionate about it or had the flare of teaching.
But today we notice that those persons are joining teaching profession who could not be
selected in various other hi-fi jobs for one reason or the other. Teaching has been their
last option as a means of earning only. We are not getting dedicated candidates who want
to make teaching their first choice. These days we have manufactured teachers- those
fulfilling the criteria set by UGC, not having any natural inclination towards teaching.
But we should not lose heart. We have to think how we can improve the quality of
teaching within our limited and given resources. How we can produce good students
catering to the needs of the society. During my span of teaching I introduced certain
models of teaching and found that these helped in raising the standard of quality amongst
students. I strongly feel that if these models of teaching is incorporated in education
system it will yield good results. These models are-
1. Buzz Session-
Generally students come in the class room with the feeling that they do not know
anything about the subject. They totally accept the authority of teachers on the subject.
They do not react or participate in the teaching process, it becomes a sort of monologue.
Teacher should try to involve students in teaching and learning process. They should try
to create a dialogue amongst students as well as between teacher and students. Students
should be given absolute freedom to vent their views. Some students may hesitate to
participate in the process. But my personal experience is that after two or three sessions
all students start taking interest in dialogue and discussions. The teacher may note down
the level of understanding of each student on the subject and then may proceed for formal
lectures on the subject. In this way sometimes very good ideas also come up from the
side of students which may be utilized by the teachers to improve his quality of teaching
also.
2.Assessment Session-
This buzz session may be followed by assessment session. Usually assessment is done by
teachers of their students. A teacher presumes that he knows everything on the subject,
and does not bother to up date his knowledge on the subject. Once a week students
should be given a chance to assess the performance of their teachers. This will help
teachers to remain up date about their subject. Teacher should be open minded, he/she
should welcome all the criticism on the side of students. There should not be any ego
problem, only then a teacher will be a teacher in real sense.
3. Students Rearing model-
I have borrowed this idea from the rearing of child. I have noticed that where a child is of
3-4 months, his parents do not use proper language to understand their problems or needs.
By gestures only or by using language of the child they try to solve their problems and
fulfill their needs .Sometimes they do very childish activities to understand the demands
of their child. In the same way instead of being abstract the teacher should come to the
level of students to understand their problems. They should behave like friend,
philosopher and guide, instead of exercising their authority as a teacher. Though it is a
slow and long process but its results are very encouraging in developing aptitude for
learning amongst students. Every one wants care and protection and students are no
exception.
4. Audio-Visual Model/ Excursion etc.-
We all know that media has strong influence on the minds of students, as it makes lasting
impression on their minds. A student should be able to relate theory with practice. If he
can do so, it can greatly help in understanding even the difficult things. Besides
excursions and educational tours should also be organized to provide first hand
knowledge to the students.
In the last it can be concluded that if sincere efforts are made, all these models will
greatly help in improving the standard of education and quality of teaching.