Subjects such as vocational education and art education, introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP), have posed a challenge for government-run schools that lack trained instructors with domain knowledge.
In keeping with the NEP recommendations, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has already published a vocational education textbook, Kaushal Bodh, for students of Class VI and above. Separate textbooks on art education for children of Class III and above have also been released.
Several state governments have started following the NCERT textbooks from this academic year. For example, the Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training in Odisha have developed textbooks for Classes I to VIII in state government-run schools. The books on art education and vocational education contain content translated from the NCERT textbooks.
A headmaster of an upper primary school in Cuttack said he had six teachers for mathematics, language, science, social science and environmental studies, but the school was in a fix on how to teach the two new subjects.
“There are no teachers for vocational and art education in our school. A few schools in Cuttack have hired some guest faculty to teach music. There is no communication from the state government on who will teach the new subjects in schools that do not have teachers for those specific subjects. Most probably, existing teachers will have to shoulder the additional responsibility,” said the headmaster, who did not wish to be identified.
He said subjects such as vocational education and art education had topics that existing teachers would struggle with. For instance, the Odia version of Kaushal Bodh for Class VII has a chapter called “Bandha Kama” (translated from “Tie and Dye” from the NCERT book) that seeks to teach the textile art form.
“In the chapter ‘Bandha Kama’, students are expected to learn the preparation of natural dye and apply it to fabric. This cannot be taught by any teacher in our school. We need special instructors for that,” he said.
According to the NEP document, schools will be encouraged “to hire local eminent persons or experts as ‘master instructors’ in various subjects, such as in traditional local arts, vocational crafts, entrepreneurship, agriculture, or any other subject where local expertise exists”.
P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu, an association of educationists and education activists, said locally available experts might be excellent at art and craft, but that didn’t mean they would make excellent teachers.
“Professionally managed schools hire trained instructors to teach vocational or art subjects. These instructors know the subject and are trained in child psychology and teaching skills. They handle children’s learning issues well. The locally available experts cannot manage teaching-learning activities.
“The government’s idea is to provide skill training so that students can land jobs early in life. This will push students out of the education system,” Babu said.
MBBS ‘suicide’
A first-year MBBS student died after falling from the hostel building of a private medical college in a case of suspected suicide in Thrissur, Kerala, on Monday, police said.
The deceased was identified as Sneha Paulose, a native of Kottayam and a first-year MBBS student at Jubilee Mission Medical College. According to the police, another student saw Paulose fall from the 14th floor of the girls’ hostel.