Improve quality of teachers

Updated on: Friday, November 13, 2009

New Delhi: Expressing concern over the lack of faculty, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday asked the academics and planners to address this problem of deficiency in the quality of teaching in schools, colleges and universities.

Addressing the National Education Day function to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Manmohan Singh said that the country would need an additional ten lakh teachers to implement the Right to Education Act.

Maintaining that improving access to education is not enough, Prime Minister said that it should be accompanied by efforts to ensure equity and improve quality.

He said, “Good teachers not only educate. They also inspire. Good teachers make good students and good citizens. We must find ways and means of improving the quality of our teachers.”

Referring to major expansion of higher education by opening new IITs and Central universities, the Prime Minister said that attracting best talents for these high profile institutions remains a problem. He said “We must find ways of attracting the best talents as faculty in our premier institutions. We today face difficulty in finding top level professors and lecturers in the newly created IITs and other such institutions.”

Referring to the use of the information and communication technologies (ICT) for mass learning, he said that recently launched National Mission on Education through ICT would provide internet connectivity to about 20,000 colleges and educational institutions.

He also expressed India’s willingness to share with the UNESCO the e-learning material prepared by the IITs under this mission. Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said that the globalisation of higher education has also added newer challenges in terms of quality assurance system, issues of mutual recognition and equivalence of degrees and transparency in the regulatory structures of national systems of higher education.

Later in the day, UNESCO director general Koichiro Matsuura was conferred with Degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA).

This is the first doctorate degree to be given by the NUEPA which was given university status three years ago. The NUEPA organised a special convocation to give away the honour to the UNESCO chief for his contributions in the field of education.

Matsuura has been serving as the UNESCO chief for the last 10 years. Matsuura said that the UNESCO will launch a three-week programme to celebrate the cooperation between India and the UNESCO.

Improve quality of teachers

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