Indian teachers positive about careers post-pandemic: Report

Indian teachers emerged as very positive about their careers post-pandemic, having upskilled, shown resilience and keen to continue in their teaching, according to the findings of a major global study on the use of technology to improve teaching outcomes.

T4 Education, a worldwide organisation offering tools and initiatives for teachers to improve education, launched its survey earlier this year to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and weigh up the future of tech in the sector.

Covering 20,679 teachers across 165 countries, the survey was released in London this week as one of the largest of its kind to document how COVID restrictions have impacted educational inequality.

“Overall, Indian teachers appear very positive about their careers post-pandemic, which is a positive story for the future of education. Teachers have upskilled, shown resilience and are in the main keen to continue in their teaching,” the findings note.

“Ninety per cent stated that they believe the experience has made them a better teacher, 59 per cent are more enthusiastic about teaching (16 per cent less enthusiastic),” they added.

When asked what their school should do post COVID-19 to help learners catch up, Indian teachers cited solutions like helping learners understand how they can learn better and develop independent learning strategies and introducing more play in learning to reduce stress.

“The past 18 months have been an incredible journey for teachers worldwide. This unique report documents globally how teachers have heroically responded to the world-wide education crisis being driven by the ensuing pandemic,” said Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education.

“This report is distinctive and noteworthy because it shows us the viewpoint from those who have been on the frontline delivering education. We see amazing ingenuity, innovation, creativity, and collaboration amongst teaching peers in every country. The results of which are not only benefitting millions of children and whole communities worldwide, but also the profession,” he said.

The findings that correspond for India and globally reveal that access to internet technology was the topmost factor behind learning loss during the pandemic.

“This is a fundamental point, the digital divide is now the No.1 education inequality overtaking other long-standing issues.This has great implications for education systems that need to consider how they equip schools/teachers with the core infrastructure for online learning, but also training and support to integrate into pedagogy effectively,” the report notes.

Meanwhile, the report found that teachers in India undertook a huge amount of professional development (more than global averages) with 51 per cent taking more than 10 days in total across the last 12 months, compared to a 42 per cent global average.

“Teachers have risen admirably to this enormous challenge, working tirelessly to upskill quickly and take on board ways of working that were unfamiliar in many contexts, including countries at all income levels,” said Dr Sara Hennessy, Reader in Teacher Development and Pedagogical Innovation at the University of Cambridge and Research Director at EdTech Hub.

Among some of the other global findings, the use of digital tools for assessment emerged as surprisingly low, with 27 per cent saying they used technology for assessments daily, 29 per cent weekly and 20 per cent once or twice a month.

Maths teachers were consistently the least likely among teachers of all curriculum subject areas to use a range of digital tools for teaching and learning.