Teachers in Indian schools will now have to maintain a basic standard to keep their job. And not just government school teachers but those teaching in private schools — 92 lakh in total (government and private)— too will be part of the National Professional Standards for Teachers. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman not only hailed the National Education Policy 2020 while presenting the Union Budget 2021 but the budget has a section dedicated to the NEP.
The Annexure V of the FM's speech elaborates on the issue, "Standards will be developed for all school teachers in the form of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST). This will enhance the capabilities of teachers and will be followed by all 92 lakh teachers of public and private school systems in the country."
But the proposition is not new, the NEP too had proposed a detailed plan of how teachers will be recruited through a transparent process, promotions will be merit-based, with a mechanism for multi-source periodic performance appraisals and available progression paths to become educational administrators or teacher educators. "A common guiding set of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by 2022, by the National Council for Teacher Education in consultation with NCERT and coordinated by the NCERT, SCERTs, teachers from across levels and regions, expert organisations in teacher preparation and development, and higher educational institutions," reads the NEP document. "The standards would cover expectations of the role of the teacher at different levels of expertise/ rank, and the competencies required for that rank. It will also comprise standards for performance appraisal, for each rank, that would be carried out on a periodic basis," it adds.
The NPST will also talk about the design of pre-service teacher education programmes. This could be then adopted by the states and determine teachers' career management, including tenure (after the probationary or tenure period), professional development efforts, salary increases, promotions, and other recognitions. "Promotions and salary increases will not occur based on the length of tenure or seniority, but only on the basis of such appraisal. The professional standards will be reviewed and revised nationally in 2030, and thereafter every ten years, on the basis of rigorous empirical analysis of the efficacy of the system," the NEP further adds.
While the Union Budget 2021 has allotted Rs 50,000 crore over five years for the National Research Foundation (NRF), 750 Eklavya Model residential schools in tribal areas with an increased budget of Rs 38-48 crore each, Rs 35219 crore for post-matric schemes, there has been no allocation for the NPST yet.
