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Teacher Education

Notes facilities it proposes to provide for the programme and the qualifications and experience of
faculty it proposes to deploy. The Innovative Committee should make a realistic assessment
of the facilities and profile of teacher educators in relation to the programme being proposed
to be offered, and give its recommendations to the Regional Committee.
The Commission recommends that the NCTE should develop comprehensive Guidelines for
innovative teacher education programmes.
(d) Enforcement of Section 13 of the NCTE Act: Section 13 of the NCTE Act enables the NCTE to
assess the quality of existing institutions, and guide institutions to improve their quality.
Recent developments, including decisions of the Supreme Court in two cases, have important
implications for the implementation of section 13. In the Civil Appeal No.104 of 2012 @ SLP(C)
No.14020 of 2009 in the case of Adarsh Shiksha Mahavidyalaya & others vs Subhash Rahangdale
& others, the Apex Court in its judgement dated 6th January, 2012 has directed that the NCTE
shall cause mandatory inspection of all institutions periodically. In the SLP (Civil) no. 3505 of
2012 in the case of NCTE vs Vaisnav Institute of Technology and Management, the Apex Court
in its judgement dated 12 April, 2012 has held that inspections cannot be caused by the Regional
Committee for invoking the provisions of section 17 of the Act (for withdrawal of recognition),
and where the Regional Committee is satisfied that inspection is to be made, a request may be
made to the Council for causing inspection under section 13, which is the only section
empowering the NCTE to inspect an existing recognized institution.
Both the above judgments have far-reaching implications for the framework of inspection to be
undertaken by the NCTE. In the light of the judgment dated 6th January, 2012, the NCTE will have
to develop a framework and procedure for causing inspection of each of the recognized institution
within a definite time frame, and every 3-5 years thereafter. This also presents an opportunity to the
NCTE to re-visit its present format for inspection under section 13, the composition of the inspecting
team, the manner in which the inspection report can be utilized, etc. For the first time, the NCTE
would be able to obtain credible information and evidence on the functioning of each of the over
13,000 teacher education institutions, and enable it to appropriate action, including withdrawal of
recognition in respect of institutions which are found to be of low quality. Implication of the
judgment of 12th April, 2012 is that, apart from periodic inspections, the NCTE would also have to
undertake inspections in respect of institutions where there is information (from affiliating bodies
or other sources) regarding violation of the Norms and Standards laid down by the NCTE.
The Commission recommends that the NCTE should develop a new framework for undertaking
inspection of the recognized institutions, with enhanced focus on process parameters, to ascertain
the quality of the institutions, and take appropriate action to improve the overall quality of the
teacher education system.
Transparency in the Appointment of Members of the Council and the Regional Committees
Members of the Council are appointed in accordance with Section 3 of the NCTE Act, 1993. Nomination
of certain categories of Members are made by the Central Government. Section 20 of the NCTE Act
provides for the establishment of four Regional Committees and empowers the Council to establish
more Regional Committees, if it considers necessary, with the approval of the central government.
Regarding the membership of the Committee, the Act provides that besides a member to be
nominated by the Council, there shall be a representative from each of the States/UTs in the region.
Apart from the ex-officio members, there is also a provision for the appointment of persons having
special knowledge and experience in matters relating to teacher education.
The NCTE Regulations of 2011 regarding membership of Regional Committees provide for
appointment of six members to each Regional Committee who may be former Vice- Chancellors,
Pro-Vice Chancellors, Professors of Education in the Universities, Principals of PG Colleges, Senior
Teacher Educators with 15 years of teaching experience, Educational Administrators, etc. It is
suggested that out of six persons, four should be teacher education experts and two may be eminent
educationists or educational administrators. The members may be nominated as under:-
(i) Teacher Education Experts (Four) : Serving or retired Professors of Education in universities
or in national Institutions, Principals of Teacher Education Institutions, Senior Teacher

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