Plea questions move to double duration of teacher courses

CHENNAI: Want to be a school teacher? Study continuously for 21 years, and then clear an eligibility test as well.
Among many other drastic new proposals, adding at least two more years - one year each in BEd and MEd courses - to teacher training courses has upset private institutes in Tamil Nadu, prompting them to move the Madras high court against the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).Besides increasing the duration of courses, the council has increased the fixed deposit and corpus funds to be paid by the institutes, put a cap on minimum student intake and laid down new conditions in respect of infrastructure. Also, NCTE has given 21 days for all existing teacher training institutes, which number about 670 in Tamil Nadu alone, to give an undertaking that they would comply with the new requirements.
Assailing the conditions, Tamil Nadu Self-Financing College of Education Management Association represented by its secretary S Vijayakumar has filed a petition to declare the new clauses as unenforceable and void.
When the petition came up for admission before Justice T S Sivagnanam on Thursday, NCTE told the bench that it would not insist on the 21-day deadline given to the institutes. The matter has been adjourned to March 16 for further hearing.
In their arguments, senior counsel R Muthukumaraswamy and R Suresh Kumar said teacher education students would be 26 years old by the time they complete their course as per the new scheme. Since the entire BEd and MEd syllabus is covered within a year itself, no further enhancement in course duration is necessary, they said.
In the petition, Vijayakumar submitted that a student who wishes to complete postgraduate course as well as MEd has to study continuously for 21 years in 10+2+3+2+2+2 pattern - Class 10, Plus Two, basic degree, PG degree, BEd and then MEd. Thereafter she must clear the teacher eligibility test (TET) to become a teacher. Doubling course duration will be fatal for candidate's aspirations to become a teacher, he said.
The corpus funds/fixed deposit too has been increased to about 16 lakh, the petition said, adding that such changes are beyond the ambit of NCTE.