Teacher is a nation builder. The development of any country depends upon its educational system. Any type of development is possible through education.
Curriculum is a means to the education. While education is learning, curriculum signifies situations for learning. While education deals with ‘how’ and ‘when’, Curriculum deals with ‘what’ education is a product, curriculum is the plan.
Teacher Education
Teacher education is an integral component of the educational system. Consequently, education including teacher education largely remained isolated from the needs and aspirations of the people. – To build a national system of teacher education based on India’s cultural ethos, its unity and diversity synchronizing with change and continuity.
- To upgrade the standard of teacher education, enhance the professional and social status of teachers and develop amongst them a sense of commitment.
Scenario of Teacher Education
This has necessitated improvement in the system of teacher education so as to prepare quality teachers.
Various Commissions and Committees, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Commission (1948), Secondary Education Commission (1953), Kothari Commission (1964-66) etc., are appointed by the Central and the State Governments in recent decades have invariably emphasised the need for quality teacher education suited to the needs of the educational system. India has a large system of education. There are nearly 5.98 lakh Primary Schools, 1.76 lakh Elementary Schools and 98 thousand High / Higher Secondary Schools in the country, about 1300 teacher education institutions for elementary teachers and nearly 700 colleges of education / university departments preparing teachers for secondary and higher secondary schools. The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) as a non-statutory body (1973-1993) took several steps as regards quality improvement in teacher education. Its major contribution was to prepare Teacher Education Curriculum Framework in 1978. Consequently, teacher education curricula witnessed changes in teacher preparation programmes in various universities and boards in the country. Curriculum reconstruction has also become imperative in the light of some perceptible gaps in teacher education. Teacher education by and large, is conventional in its nature and purpose. The system still prepares teachers who do not necessarily become professionally competent and committed at the completion of initial teacher preparation programmes.
