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News / Education Today / Featurephilia / 5 problems with teachers in rural areas which are blocking India's

educational growth

5 problems with teachers in rural areas which are blocking India's

educational growth

New Delhi January 31, 2017 UPDATED 08:37 IST

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5/5/2018 5 problems with teachers in rural areas which are blocking India's educational growth | IndiaToday

Rural education problems

ne of the biggest concerns of educators across the world, and especially in India, is

O making the present generation learners future-ready. India is relatively young as a nation

with around 28 million youth population being added every year. More than 50 per cent of its

population is below the age of 25 and more than 65 per cent are aged below 35. In 2020, the

average age of an Indian is expected to be 29 years, while it will be 37 for China and 48 for

Japan. However, India's high youth population won't be of help to the economy if universal

education is not achieved all over India.

The main problem India now faces is that all the pedagogical innovations are fit to improve the

quality of urban education while the rural learners and their education remain largely

neglected. With 65 per cent of the population residing in rural India, education there truly

deserves much more attention, especially when it is plagued with so many problems - dearth of

teachers, teacher absenteeism and poor quality of teachers.

1. NON-PERMANENCE OF TEACHERS IS DEMOTIVATING

Most of the schools in rural areas are run by the government. They appoint ad hoc teachers,

instead of permanent ones, who are poorly paid as compared to the huge remuneration of a full-

time Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT).

Moreover, promising career prospects, which is quite a motivation booster, is almost nil for the

non-permanent teachers.  This leads to dissatisfaction, eventually resulting in a dearth of

teachers because they move away to more permanent jobs.

2. LATE OR BLATANTLY ABSENT

Lack of accountability of teachers and school authorities has raised the rate of absenteeism.

School Development and Management Committees (SDMCs), comprising parents and members

of the local community, have been entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing teachers and

their duties. However, research suggests that the committee has hardly seen success.

3. NON-TEACHING DUTIES

Moreover, non-teaching duties like election invigilation often keep teachers away from schools.

Furthermore, teachers often have to report for duty far away from their home. With an

inadequate transport system in rural India, the distance only adds to their woes and often

results in absenteeism
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5/5/2018 5 problems with teachers in rural areas which are blocking India's educational growth | IndiaToday
results in absenteeism.

4. EXEMPTION FROM TET

Several states have exempted candidates from Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) as only 20 per

cent of the aspirants clear it. This wrong move, in an attempt to quickly fix the issue of dearth of

teachers, has deteriorated the quality of education in the states even further. However, quality of

teachers is a major concern not only in these states, but across the entire country.

5. LACK OF QUALITY TEACHER TRAINING

There are many private teacher-training institutes in India, but the quality of the training they

provide is unsatisfactory. Continuous professional development is a motivator for teachers, and

enough attention is needed in this regard.

DIGITAL AIDS TO THE RESCUE

Many remedies such as surprise school inspections, teacher-training courses etc. have been

attempted to salvage the rural education scenario. Without being dismissive of any of these, I

would like to point out the effectiveness of digital aids in battling the challenges plaguing our

education system. This front has benefited, and gained visibility, thanks to some potential

ventures by both government and non-government initiatives alike.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

Attuned to the Modi government's Digital India initiative, a couple of projects have been

introduced in the school education segment.

For instance, E-basta aims to make digital education via tablets and computers accessible to

learners in rural areas. Digital learning can help develop critical thinking skills. The project

aims not only to benefit learners in learning concepts, but also to make them comfortable

with technology.  

Steps are already being taken to introduce digital aids in preschools. Though digital aids can

never really replace teachers, initiatives of these kinds can make quality content available to

them.

Again, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), in partnership with state

governments, is dedicated to enhance the capacity of all teachers in Information and

Communications Technology (ICT).

Many teachers are not tech-savvy, and the teacher-training courses never really prepare them

to handle digital aids in classrooms. Such schemes can go a long way in keeping them

motivated besides improving their competence.

NON-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

eVidyaloka, a non-profit organisation, connects rural learners and teaching volunteers through

digital classrooms. The passionate teachers are a varied bunch, consisting of housewives, IT

professionals and retired defence personnel. The eVidyaloka team organises Skype classes

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5/5/2018 5 problems with teachers in rural areas which are blocking India's educational growth | IndiaToday

according to the availability of volunteers and batch sizes.

Although there is a shortage of teachers in our country, a huge number of college pass-outs

remain unemployed. The organisation tries to properly channelise the supply in the sector

where there is a demand. However, frequent power cuts and poor internet connectivity in rural

areas affect the productivity of the classrooms.

WHY DO URBAN LEARNERS USUALLY SECURE BETTER GRADES?

Performance trends reveal that urban learners always secure better grades than their rural

counterparts. It is not calibre that affects their performance, but the resources and

opportunities available to them. Again, we cannot say that teaching is not a motivating

profession. There are truly passionate teachers out there to make a difference. However, poor

remuneration and inadequate training are discouraging.

Technology, on its part, has the potential to positively affect the quality of education, and also to

break the digital divide plaguing our system.

-- Authored by Beas Dev Ralhan, CEO and Co-founder, Next Education India Pvt. Ltd.

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