Page 153 - DEDU505_TEACHER_EDUCATION_ENGLISH

Unit 16: Policy Perspectives on Teacher Education National Policy on Education—1986 and POA 1992

every country seeks to develop its system of education to express and promote its unique socio- Notes
cultural identity and also to meet the challenges of the times. The National Policy of Education of
1986 is the result of the reviews which was discussed and adopted during the budget session
of1985. Again, a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Acharaya Rammurti in May
1990 to review National Policy of Education (NPE) and to make recommendations for its
modifications. The Central Advisory Board of Education, a committee set up in July 1991 under
the chairmanship of Shri N. Janadhana Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh; considered
some modifications in NPE taking into considerations the report of the Rammurti Committee
and other relevant development having a bearing on the policy. This Committee submitted its
report in January 1992, which is known as National Programme of Action of 1992. This policy
aimed to promote national progress, a sense of common citizenship and culture, and to strengthen
national integration. It laid stress on the need for a radical reconstruction of the education system,
to improve its quality at all stages, and therefore gave much greater attention to science and
technology, the cultivation of moral values and a closer relation between education and the life
of the people.

At least 75 percent of the children in the age group of 11-14 will have to be enrolled
and retained in school leading to satisfactory completion of class VIII according to
the NPE and POA.

16.2 Objectives of NPE—1986 and its POA—1992

The NPE, 1986, and its POA gave unqualified priority to University Elementary Education and
introduced many innovations. The emphasis was shifted from enrolment perse to enrolment as
well as retention. As the POA, says “enrolment by itself is of little importance if children do not
continue beyond one year, many of them not seeing the school for more than a few days.
Secondly, the NPE, formulated strategies based on micro-planning, and applied at the grass root
level all over the country, to ensure children’s retention at school. Thirdly, the NPE, 1986
recognized that unattractive school environment, unsatisfactory condition of buildings and
insufficiency of instructional material function as demotivating factors for children and their
parents. The Policy, therefore, called for a drive for a substantial improvement of primary schools
and provision of support services. To this end, the scheme of Operation Blackboard was conceived.
The launching of this scheme has greater significance Fourthly, the NPE, 1986 commended the
adoption at the primary stage of a child-centered and activity-based process of learning. Fifthly,
the NPE, 1986 and its POA postulated a large programme of restructuring of teacher education,
pre-service as well as in-service, Last but the most important, the NPE, 1986 sought to address the
most difficult aspect of access, viz., access to education of millions of girls and working children
who, because of socio-economic compulsions, cannot participate in school system. As rightly
pointed out by the NPERC, it was for the first time, in 1986, that an educational policy had
admitted that the school would not reach all children and that a large and systematic programme
of Non-Formal Education (NFE) has to be an integral component of the strategy to achieve UEE.
NFE, as envisaged by the NPE, 1986 and its POA, would have enough flexibility to enable the
learners to learn at their own pace and at the same time would have quality comparable with
formal education.
16.3 Recommendations of NPE and its POA about Teacher Education

The National Policy in Education, 1986 comments thus on the role of teachers: "The status of the
teacher reflects the socio-cultural ethos of a society; it is said that no people can rise above the
levels of its teachers. The Government and the community should endeavour to create conditions
which will help motivate and inspire teachers on constructive and creative lines. Teachers should
have the freedom to innovate, to devise appropriate methods of communication and activities
relevant to the needs and capabilities and the concerns of the community."

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 147