JVC report 2012

Justice Verma Commission (JVC) Report 2012 andits recommendations

A Commission was appointed by the Honourable Supreme Court to examinethe entire issue which have bearing on improving the quality of teacher education as well asimproving the regulatory functions of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).The Chairman of this Commission was HonourableJustice J. S. Verma, former Chief Justice ofIndia.

Justice Verma Commission (JVC) has attempted a close scrutiny of the existing provisionsand the quality of teacher education to facilitate identification of the deficiencies therein, andthen to enable it to make recommendations which can rectify the defects and provide thelevel of teacher education necessary to produce quality teachers.

The JVC Report is in three volumes:

·         Volume I contains the main report divided into seven chaptersalong with the final conclusions and recommendations.

·         Volume II contains all the discussion andmaterial related to the 291 recognisedinstitutionsWestern Region of Maharashtra.

·         Volume III contains all the Annexure.

Terms of Reference of JVC Report

·         Whether in the context of the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 the Regulations on Recognition Norms and Procedure that lay down the norms and procedure for various teacher education courses which are adopted by NCTE are adequate or need review.

·         Whether further reforms are necessary to improve quality of teacher training and inservice training.

·         To review the Recognitions on Recognition Norms and Procedure currently in force as laid down by the NCTE are being properly enforced. If not how to evolve a fair and transparent manner in which these norms and standards may be enforced.

·         To review the existing practice of appointment of members to the NCTE are undertaken, so that the NCTE discharges its crucial role in providing vision and direction in the functioning of NCTE.

·         To evolve standard and norms for evaluating teacher performance and audit teachers.

·         To review whether the present provisions empowering withdrawal of recognition of institutions are adequate.

·         To determine what the methodology should be to examine / enforce quality in teacher education institutions.

·         To review whether the 291 institutions in the Western Region qualify to be recognised as Teacher Training Institutions.

Existing Scenario of Teacher Education as found by the JVC report

The Commission of the JVC report pointed out the following findings :

·         Classroom practice is closely tied to the manner in which teachers learn to engage with teaching as a practical and social activity.

·         The institutions of teacher education operates as a system of well-established conventions that structure social interaction, reproducing shared habits of thought through the conventions and rituals of teacher preparation.

·         The bulk of secondary teacher education institutes offering programmes leading to the B. Ed. degree are outside university campus.

·         Elementary teacher education institutes leading to the D. Ed. degree are not linked to the Universities.

·         Teacher education institutes function as closed spaces with the sole mandate of training teachers.

·         Most teacher education programmes (B. Ed. and D. Ed.) do not adequately engage with subject knowledge.

Quality of Curriculum Content

The Commission examined the curriculum and found the following :

·         Initial teacher preparation, both at the elementary and secondary levels, is facing a number of problems. Some of them are common while others are specific to a stage of education.

·         The teacher education curriculum either in the D. Ed. or the B. Ed. programmes does not effectively engages student-teachers with subject knowledge. It focuses only on generic methods of school subjects. Any new developments in specific disciplines that make up school subjects do not receive the due attention.

·         Current programmes fail to integrate the knowledge the knowledge about learners and the knowledge of the subject with knowledge about the socio-cultural context and philosophical basis of education and learning. Teaching is practiced as a mechanical delivery of a given a number of lessons, rather than reflective practice.

Quality in Mode of Teacher Preparation

The commission of the JVC report studied the mode of teacher preparation and viewed the following :

·         Quality of training through distance mode was poor.

·         Current teacher education institutes are isolated from universities and the system of higher education.

·         Initial training of teacher education suffer from isolation, low profile and poor visibility in view of it being a non-degree programme.

·         There is an urgent need to up-grade pre-service elementary teacher education by enhancing the duration of training; making it equivalent to an integrated degree programme and locating the management and control of elementary teacher education with universities.

Recommendations made by the JVC Commission

·         The Commission recommends the Government should increases its investment for establishing teacher education institutions and increase the institutional capacity of teacher preparation, especially in deficit states.

·         Government may explore the possibility of instituting a transparent procedure of pre-entry testing of candidates to the pre-service teacher education programmes, keeping in view the variation in local conditions.

·         Teacher education should be a part of the higher education system. The duration of programme of teacher education needs to be enhanced, in keeping with the recommendations of the Education Commission (1966), the implementation of which is long overdue.

·         It is desirable that new teacher education institutions are located in multi- and interdisciplinary academic environment.

·         This will have significant implications for the redesigning of norms and standards of various teacher education courses specified by the NCTE.

·         This will have also implications for employment and career progression of prospective teachers.

·         Existing teacher education institutions may be encouraged to take necessary steps towards attaining academic parity with the new institutions.

·         Current teacher education programme may be redesigned keeping in view the recommendations in the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCTE, 2009) and other relevant material.

·         In keeping with the recommendations of the Education Commission (1966), every pre-service teacher education institution may have dedicated school attached to it as a laboratory where student teachers get opportunities to experiment with new ideas and hone their capacities and skills to become reflective practitioners.

·         There is a need to establish a national level academic body for continual reflections and analysis of teacher education programmes, their norms and standards, development of reading material and faculty development of teacher educators.

·         As a matter of policy, the first professional degree/ diploma in teacher education should be offered only in face-to-face mode.

·         Distance learning programmes and the use of blended learning material may be developed and used for continuing professional development of school teachers and teacher educators.

·         The institutional capacity should be increased for preparation of teacher educators.

·         There is need to make Masters in Education programme of two years duration with the provision to branch out for specialisation in curriculum and pedagogic studies, foundation studies, management, policy and finance, and other areas of emerging concerns in education.

·         The NCTE would need to develop broad-based norms for qualification of teacher educators to enable induction of persons with post-graduation degrees in education science, social science, languages and mathematics, along with a professional degree in teacher education or a research degree in education, as teacher educators.

·         The idea of creating opportunities for teaching practioners to teach in teacher education institutions, as visiting faculty, may be explored. Similarly, teacher educators could be considered as visiting faculty in schools.

·         Faculty development programmes for teacher educators should be institutionalised.

·         There is need for enhanced investment in promotion of research in education in general, and in teacher education in particular in the universities; creation of an Inter University Centre in Teacher Education could play a significant role, in this regard.