Education for teachers at crossroads

BANGALORE: Experts in the field of teacher education on Tuesday regretted the ‘corrupt’ and ‘collapsing’ state of BEd and DEd colleges in the state.The team of experts, headed by MLC and founderchairperson of PES Institutions Dr M R Doreswamy, will approach the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and the state government this week seeking its intervention.Speaking at a round table discussion on the status of teacher education organised here by Shruth and Smith Foundation and PACER Foundation, Dr Doreswamy said, “It is appropriate to say that teacher education in the state is at crossroads today.Only the number of teacher training colleges have increased, with no increase in quality of training.Those institutions that do not meet NCTE norms should be disaffiliated.” He said he was “pained” to close down a BEd college as the system was corrupt.“In our BEd college, there was no scope for malpractices.So, very few students joined the course. This is the fate of our teacher training,” he rued. There are 465 BEd colleges, 900 DEd colleges and 46 MEd colleges in the State, with nearly 120 under Bangalore University. Dr Gururaj Karjagi, chairperson of the Academy for Creative Teaching (ACT), said that universities have to play an active role in regulating teacher training.“I am scared to send children to school, considering how bad the training of teachers is. Universities have teeth, and they cannot absolve themselves from their responsibility in ensuring that the colleges are adhering to rules,” he said, adding that the future of the country will be at stake in the next 20 years if the teachers will be ‘trained this way’.