Govt mulls over bringing new amendment to NCTE Act

New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Faced with mounting criticism over the quality of teacher training institutes, government is planning to bring a legislation in the upcoming Budget session to amend an Act for strengthening regulatory powers and functions of National Council for Teacher Education. A note is being circulated in this regard among different Ministries before it is placed before the Union Cabinet for its approval, sources in the HRD Ministry said. The amendment would empower the Council to issue directives to the regional committees on matters of policy and effective implementation of the National Council for Teacher Education Act. It will also enable the Council to revise an order passed by the regional committee under Sec 14 and 15 of the Act on matters of recognition of the training institutes, they said. At present, the Council can act only if an appeal is filed before it. Regional committees have been accused of irregularities and flouting norms in awarding recognition to teacher training institutes. According to the sources, the amendment will also do away with some of the the obstacles in carrying out inspections of the institutes. The move comes after the Supreme Court appointed Justice J S Verma Commission on improving teacher education system had suggested necessary amendment in this regard. The apex court was of the view that the recommendations of the Commission deserve to be accepted and has requested the Centre and the NCTE to file an affidavit in the implementation plan. The Verma Commission while raising serious concerns over the standards of the training institutes had said that of the 300 such institutes in Maharashtra, only 25 were of a satisfactory standard. PTI SGI RAI