Volume on teachers & teacher education by Azim Premji University 

Volume on teachers & teacher education by Azim Premji University 

Part of: GS Prelims and GS – II – Education

In news

• Azim Premji University released the First volume on teachers & teacher education. 
• It explores the landscape of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in India, corruption in private TEIs, the support system needed for teachers and the problem of those who are on contract.

Key takeaways 

• There are 9 million teachers in around 1.5 million schools in India.
• It is equally important to impart good quality of education to aspiring teachers.
• Of the 17,503 TEIs in India, more than 90% are privately owned, stand-alone institutions, offering single programmes localised in certain geographies.
• Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, account for 54% of all TEIs in India. 
• Only 12 States/UTs have at least one TEI in each district.
• There are many substandard, dysfunctional TEIs functioning as ‘commercial shops’.
• TEIs deliberately neglected basic curricular requirements. 
• Classes are neither conducted seriously nor taken seriously by students. 
• Almost all private TEIs allowed students with a shortage of attendance to appear for examinations.
• There is an increasing prevalence of contract teachers, who are recruited for short periods on inadequate salaries with little or no benefits. 
• This has caused long-term damage to not just the teaching profession but has also affected student learning.