Teacher, heart of the education system: VC

[sajiv]

Teacher, heart of the education system: VC

In the process of making education more meaningful, improving its quality and making it more accessible, one thing that prominently matters is the teacher, who is the heart of the education system, G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathiar University, said here recently.

Delivering the graduation address at PPG College of Education, he asserted that the ability of the teacher to perform was crucial.

"There are 357 universities, 18,000 colleges, 10 million students and 4.72 lakh teachers. These teachers require professional training on a continuous basis for their growth and development. Various commissions and committees have also recommended providing professional training to teachers. But, no specific steps have been taken to improve professionalism among teachers before or after they join the teaching profession," the Vice-Chancellor regretted.

College and university teachers start their careers without having pre-requisite skills and competencies in teaching. A policy for introducing pre-service education was to be evolved for them and it should be made mandatory, he added.

He lamented that it was a usual phenomenon in the Indian education system that even a professor failed to identify syllabus as only a component of curriculum. "Similarly, administrators too fail to distinguish administration from management, inspection from supervision, office note from order, motion from resolution, test from examination and evaluation from measurement," Mr. Thiruvasagam said.

Scientific and technological studies were not devoid of moral values. Science was both knowledge and power.

It demanded disciplined devotion for the pursuit for truth.

A nation was built in its educational institutions.