Appendix D: Teacher Education Reform in India

Number of Teachers in Millions

Legend:

Primary -- Grades 1 to 5
Middle -- Grades 6 to 8
Secondary -- Grades 9 and 10
Higher Secondary -- Grades 11 and 12

Number of Training Institutions and Enrollment

Number of Trained and Untrained Teachers (In Millions)

Note: Figures in parentheses indicate percentages.

Drop-out Rate (Grades 1 to 8)

Teacher-Pupil Ratio

Needs and Requirements of Practicing Mathematics Teachers in India

1. Guidance with respect to content
   Mathematics curriculum has undergone drastic changes in recent years. Many schools do not get specialist teachers. Hence conceptual clarification is required.

2. Guidance in Handling Challenging Problems
   Textbooks usually include a few challenging exercises. Many teachers avoid handling them. Guidance is needed to deal with such problems.

3. Enhancement of Student's Initial Preparation
   Teachers dealing with disadvantaged students often experience that the initial preparation of students is inadequate. They need to be acquainted with appropriate remedial measures.

4. Language of Mathematics
   Mathematical description makes use of technical terms, symbolic languages, etc. Equipping the teachers to explain them properly is necessary to facilitate learning by school children.

5. Making Learning of Mathematics Interesting
   Mathematics is perceived as a dull and dry subject. It is a challenge to make it interesting and enjoyable. Guidance is needed to face the challenge.

6. Enhancing Pupil Participation in the Classroom
   Abstract nature of mathematics usually hinders active participation of pupils in the classroom. It is necessary to bring out relevance to their daily lives to enhance their involvement. Teachers need guidance in this regard too.

What needs to be done?

1. Revamping Pre-Service Courses
   The curriculum of pre-service courses needs to be modified to suit to present content and national interest.

2. Strengthening Mathematics Teachers' Associations
   These associations exist at state as well as at national levels. Many of them are, however, inactive. They need to be strengthened so that they meet frequently and arrange discussion sessions among their members.

3. Organization of Periodic In-Service Courses
   Presently, in-service courses are very few. Courses should be arranged at local level so that expenses are kept to a minimum. Help should be sought from voluntary organizations and teachers' association.

4. Opportunities for life-long learning
   Media based packages need to be developed so that teachers can get inputs through distance mode. Open universities in India are trying this direction.

5. International exchange and networking
   International exchanges need to be encouraged among teachers to enable them to learn from each other. Moreover, networking needs to be established for the exchange of ideas. Such an effort has been initiated by commonwealth countries.

6. Special training of teachers dealing with

   1. Handicapped children
   2. Socio-economically deprived children
   3. Gifted children
   4. Slow learners

7. Reward for Innovative Teachers
   Efforts of innovative mathematics teachers should be recognized. CASTME (Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators) follows the practice of giving awards to schoolteachers, an activity that should be undertaken at various levels and by different organizations.

8. Bridging Research and Practice
   In order to ensure that the findings of research studies are implemented in the classroom there is a need to undertake feasibility studies. Over-dependence of material and manpower resources should be avoided. Encouraging teachers to undertake action research would be a good strategy.

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