India : Teachers' training funds

"Plants are shaped by cultivation and humans by education…," aptly said by a Genevan philosopher in the 18th century. Education indeed plays a critical role in shaping the future of a nation. Unfortunately, India still lags behind in various aspects of education and demands numerous reforms. Although the government has been rolling down large scale initiatives and allocating huge amount of money for its improvement, our education system is still a stumbling block towards the country’s objective of achieving inclusive growth.
 

Last year, the government announced a 24 per cent hike in the budget allocation for education. Several schemes for scholarships were also introduced for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students. Emphasising the need to bring reforms in the sector, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, “Universalising access to secondary education, increasing percentage of our scholars in highereducation and providing skills trainingis necessary."
 

However, one of the biggest challenges in education is the lack of attention on teachers' training programmess at the policy level. In addition to it, India lacks sufficient allocations for teachers' training programmes. Sadly, whatever is allocated, a good chunk of it gets wasted and pocketed by ministers, bureaucrats and other executive bodies. In most cases, the sum doesn’t percolate to the grass root level and consequently the teachers suffer from lack of proper training and a lack of commitment. Even though the Union budget 2011 allocated Rs.31,036 crore for school education, it didn't give much attention to the teachers' training. Most shockingly, of the allocated Rs.4000 crore for teachers' training in the 11th Plan, only Rs.1444 crore – that is – 36 per cent has been spent in the last four years. Moreover, the number of teachers is also insufficient. As per a UNICEF report of 2004, 19 per cent of primary and secondary schools are having one teacher per school. Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have less than two teachers per school on an average. Uttar Pradesh is the worst of the lot as it struggles to provide even a single teacher per school on an average.

A large number of many bodies were formed to help improve teachers’ education and skills but the quality of teachers and their evaluation remain matters of grave concern. So, not only should the allocations on teachers training be increased but there should also be a mechanism in place to check misappropriation of funds. Beyond this, states should be encouraged to setup schools on a priority, as many of them underestimate the gravity of the issue.