New Policy Old Mindset

Context: The National Education Policy 2020 reiterates the importance of teachers and aspires for outstanding students to choose the teaching profession.

Issues in Teacher Centric Reforms of NEP

• Equating enabling environment with talent and passion:

• Attracting outstanding talent: is based on minimal conditions for teachers to work and can hardly be seen as making any value addition to their professional lives. 

• A threat to the security of tenure and salary of a government school teacher is under the neo-liberal regime.

• Failed Comprehensive system of teacher assessment: which relies on similar parameters to reward and motivate teachers working in varying situations.
• None of the parameters takes cognisance of the background of the children they teach.
• Good teacher education programmes alone will not be able to ensure effective teaching and meaningful learning in the classroom. 
• For E.g. an outstanding teacher could crumble under the pressure if her class has a huge number of students.
• Overloading the teachers with accountability: with externally tested learning outcomes of students, irrespective of the differences among them.

• Teaching surveillance through CCTV cameras makes records/documentation to take precedence over teaching and the educational discourse.

Teacher Centric Reforms

• Ensure good salaries and remuneration with regular increments
• Rigorous entrance exams for their recruitment
• Professionally valued degrees for teachers
• Autonomy in curriculum development and student assessment 
• Strengthen implicit belief that teaching is a highly demanding job and cannot be measured by quantitative measures alone. 
• Ensure decent and pleasant working conditions.
• Provide opportunities for their continuous professional development through skill upgrade courses.