JOIN USEducation is so closely associated with people’s lives that every individual in the society holds a view about it. However, one begins to recognise the complexity when we discuss the specific problems facing public education in India such as differential access to schooling, problems of infrastructure, lack of quality teaching, children’s learning problems and so on. While there has been several reforms to revive various aspects of the education sector, there is still a need to develop people to address the challenges that the sector currently faces.
Additionally, the sector needs good talent to enter to help develop innovative responses to specific field realities. Contribution in these areas require capable, knowledgeable, conscientious reflective practitioners and thinkers, who can take up responsibilities ranging from classroom teaching to policy analysis. This entails a systematised engagement with relevant body of knowledge and experience that brings to fore ideas of quality, quantity and the purpose of education.
Any improvement in public education depends on the people who are working in this system. Several educational schemes and projects in India in the last two decades such as the DPEP, RMSA, setting up of District Institutes of Education and the provisions of RTE have highlighted important dimensions such as classroom pedagogy, learning materials, assessment and teacher communities. These experiences have pointed to the need to develop knowledgeable personnel to make informed decisions to support initiatives on the ground.
Many paths
Teaching at schools requires a teacher certification qualification such as BEd, DEd or a BElEd, while teaching at teacher education institutions requires an MEd, which is a two-year teacher-educator preparation post-graduate level. There are various ways that one can contribute to the education sector aside from being a teacher. Education has several aspects that need attention and serious study such as curriculum design, policy, education of teachers and design of learning materials.
There is a need for specialised personnel to contribute to these various areas and the growing opportunities in the above areas signal that the government institutions are no longer the sole players but have found significant participation from civil society organisations, private organisations, international organisations, independent consultants and researchers.
Examples of non-profit initiatives in the area of education include Digantar and others.
Further, an increasing demand for people in the education sector it needs over five lakh teachers in the public schools to fulfill the RTE norms. Additionally, vacancies in the government teacher education institutions are over 50 per cent. In attempt to bridge the gap, there are thousands of NGOs working towards the improvement of education and health and several corporates are getting involved as well through their CSR initiatives.
Good fostering
A good education programme attempts to foster perspective, knowledge, attitude, ability and experience by offering courses in the areas of curriculum, philosophy and sociology of education, child development, research and policy. Besides an understanding of educational theory and practice, a good Master’s programme should provide opportunities to do theory-based practicum and field-related projects. This gives graduates capabilities to plan independent educational interventions. It should also foster group work, form humane relationships and have a deep commitment to human wellbeing.
The wide range of themes such as curriculum, pedagogy, text book and teaching learning material development, assessment, early childhood education could be of interest to academic personnel working in the DIETs, SCERTS and other government run institutions, who wish to strengthen their knowledge and capabilities in the above mentioned areas.
Employees of NGOs engaged with design and implementation of interventions, those working on policy issues and other areas will benefit immensely from these programmes.
The MA programmes are an inviting space for teachers who wish to enhance their understanding of teaching-learning processes or aspire to work in other non-teaching areas of education. Those individuals who have a Master’s degree in the foundational areas of education such as philosophy and sociology, along with a teacher certification and a MA Education degree are eligible to teach foundational courses in teacher education colleges. Those who wish to be researchers can later enroll for the MPhil and PhD programmes or join educational projects in research institutions.
There are various institutes in India that offer these programmes like TISS, Jamia Millia Islamia and Ambedkar University. It is hoped that such programmes develop informed professionals who can confidently respond to the educational situations and work towards ensuring quality in the context of universalisation of education.
(the writer is faculty member, Azim Premji University)