So as to improve teacher education in Odisha, the School and Mass Education Department is planning to carry out an audit of the quality of teachers engaged in government schools after clearing their Bachelor in Education (BEd) from other states. Besides, the BEd courses being offered in self-financing mode by state-run degree colleges and universities will face academic audits by the Higher Education department, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
When was this decision made? The decisions were taken at a recent review meeting on the status of teacher education in Odisha chaired by Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena.
With restrictions on the number of BEd seats in Odisha and private institutions banned from offering the course, aspirants mostly pursue the degree from private BEd colleges in other states, primarily neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. As of now, there are 29 teacher training institutions — universities and teacher education colleges — offering BEd in the state with the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) recently restoring recognition of 16 such institutions.
To recall, recognition of the institutions was withdrawn three years back due to a lack of the required number of teachers and infrastructure. While 10 such institutions have 100 BEd seats each, one has 150 seats and the rest have 50 each.
Official word
Officials laid stress on the need for auditing the teaching quality of teachers who have been engaged in schools after clearing BEd courses from other states. It was also decided that the department will build an academic and pedagogy profile of out-of-state teachers appointed during the last three years.
This will help us examine the quality of courses being offered by private BEd colleges in the neighbouring states vis-a-vis what is being offered here, said a higher official of the School and Mass Education department. Further, the Higher Education department will collate the best practices of different states in teacher education and select the appropriate ones to be introduced in Odisha to strengthen teacher training, he added.
The officials also decided that Radhanath Institute of Advanced Studies in Education at Cuttack, the oldest teacher education institute in Odisha, needs to be developed as a centre of excellence. Its principal has been directed to prepare an institutional development plan in consultation with the Odisha State Higher Education Council and submit it to the government for approval.
The Higher Education Department was asked to constitute a committee to prepare a roadmap including the above-mentioned points within two months to strengthen teacher training in the state.
