TEACHER MANAGEMENT: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES With special reference to Sikkim [This article was written in 2008]

General Background

Sikkim, the erstwhile kingdom of Chogyal dynasty has been merged with the mainstream of Indian union Republic in the year 1975. Prior to that Sikkim was a Protectorate State of India. The population before the merger was very sparsely distributed and the kingdom was almost isolated from the mainstream in every field. After 1975, the tiny Himalayan State of Indian Union Republic took a dramatic turn and witnessed a phenomenal changes in demographic as well as other infra structural facilities. Sikkim is a tiny State in the eastern part of India. The total area of Sikkim is 7096 Sq. Km. Geographically Sikkim is bounded by China (Tibet) on the north, the kingdom of Bhutan on the east, Darjeeling District of West Bengal on the South, and the kingdom of Nepal in the West. It lies between 27⁰ to 28⁰ North Latitudes and 88⁰ to 89⁰ East Longitudes. The capital of Sikkim is Gangtok. The population as per the Census 2001 is 539584 out of which 251885 are female. The density of population is approximately 76 per Sq. km.

The whole State has been divided into 607 Revenue Blocks and 909 ward Panchayats. Administration has already been decentralized in the State and Powers has been delegated to the PRI as per the 73rd and 74th Amendment of Constitution of India.

All the 782 Government Schools are proportionately divided into 131 clusters. The cluster is further strengthened by formation Cluster Resource Groups, headed by the Cluster Resource Coordinator who is the Head Master of that particular school. The School Managing Committee (SMC) works at the grass root level. Each and every Government School has its own School Managing Committee.

As per the household survey conducted in January 2007, 866 habitations have been identified out of these, 97 habitations were school less habitation and they are being covered by opening EGS/AIE Centres. Some of the habitations have difficult geographical terrain and are sparsely populated.

Educational Background

The education in the State of Sikkim was in the poor state at the time of its merger in Indian Union because of the various socio-economic and socio-cultural reasons. The establishments of the schools were not done on basis of proper mapping and planning. The influence of the community used to decide the establishment of schools. Thus, due to the uneven distribution of schools, limited infrastructural facilities, non-availability of qualified teachers and expensive schooling were the major reasons for non-schooling of the children in the State at that time.

The initial process of school education in the State started when the State initiated Incentive Scheme to the school going children. This had resulted the tremendous increase in enrolment in the schools.

The graph below shows the literacy rate of the State corresponding to the National figure. The figures of three consecutive demographic years i.e. 1981, 1991 and 2001 show the progress in literacy in the State. The tremendous growth of the literacy in the state is due to the holistic approach of the Government of India and the sincerity of the State Government. The literacy rate of the state as per 1981 Census was 9.62 less than the National average however in 1991 and 2001 Census the state exceeded the National average.

Near about 42 to 43% schools were established in the decade of 1975-1985. The Operation Blackboard under National Policy on Education (1986) covered all primary schools of the State. The incentives like mid-day-meals, free textbooks, free exercise books, free school uniforms, free tuition, school bags, free raincoats etc. are some of the factors which contributed a lot on the way of Universalization of Elementary Education in the State.

There is also provision of Merit Scholarship. Every year there is a test for the children of Class VI for the selection for Merit Scholarship. The children securing Ist, IInd and IIIrd positions at district level are conferred Merit Scholarship @ Rs. 1200/-, 1000/- and 800/- respectively per annum.

The State also has the scheme of Prerna Scholarship for the girl children. The department prepares the merit list of girl children from the above test and confers scholarship to those who stand Ist, IInd and IIIrd in the list prepared thereof. The rates of the scholarship are Rs. 800/-, Rs. 700/- and Rs. 600/- to Ist, IInd and IIIrd respectively.

Stage-wise Growth of Enrolment

Stages of Education	Achievement in Enrolment				%age of Girl’s Enrolment in 1992-93
	1980-85	1985-90	1991-92	1992-93
Primary (Classes I-V)	60821	71515	73324	74497	46.90
Middle (Classes VI-VIII)	13423	14591	15998	18515	47.50

Source: Educational Administration in Sikkim, NIEPA (NUEPA), 1995

Sikkim has achieved great success in enrolling the children in the school system. The table given above shows the increase of enrolment at Primary and Upper Primary Level in different period indicated in the table. The enrolment increase is about 22.48% at primary and 37.93% at upper primary level.

School and Subject Pattern

Primary Level of schooling has five years cycle covering the classes I to V. But it is to note that every schools of Sikkim have pre-primary class attached to it. The whole State has classes VI to VIII in the upper primary section and there is also a primary section attached to it, which is called Junior High School. In secondary section there are Classes IX and X and also posses primary and upper primary section attached to it. There are classes XI and XII in senior secondary section along with the lower sections attached to it. The schools upto running Class X and Class XII in the above pattern are called secondary and senior secondary schools respectively. There are 498 primary schools, 150 upper primary schools, 92 secondary schools and 42 senior secondary schools in the state.

Four major subjects are taught in the classes from I to III out of which two are languages i.e. English and Vernacular. The other two are Mathematic and Environmental Studies (EVS). In Sikkim, this level is called Lower Primary and has purely a competency based teaching-learning.  However after this level, the state has three language formulae up to Class VIII and the languages taught in these classes are English, Hindi and vernacular. The number of language subjects comes down to two as in lower primary level at secondary and senior secondary levels.

The subject Pattern being taught in the schools of Sikkim is given as under:

Level	Classes	Subjects taught
Lower Primary	I - III	English	Vernacular	Mathematics	EVS	-	-
Primary	IV – V	English	Hindi	Vernacular	Mathematics	EVS I	EVS – II
Upper Primary	VI – VIII	English	Hindi	Vernacular	Mathematics	S.Stds	Science
Secondary	IX & X	English	Hindi/Vernacular (anyone)		Mathematics	S.Stds	Science
Sr. Secondary	XI & XII	English	Hindi/Vernacular (anyone)		As per streams

Note: Nepali, Lepcha, Limboo, Bhutia, Sherpa, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Sunuwar, Tamang, Rai are Vernaculars

Teacher Management in the State

‘Teacher’ the word itself gives its piousness.  Teacher is a refined personality of the society which emits goodness, righteousness, truthfulness, sincerity, honesty, commitment, competence and self respect. The civilization the world has achieved over a period of time is the result of honest and sincere efforts of the teachers who served the human being in different ages in different patterns of managements.

The teaching-learning being the main activity of Education Department, the teachers are the main academic resources and responsible for effective teaching learning process. Teachers play leading role in the processes of creation of knowledge in the students and always act as a role model for the students. The performance of the teachers reflects the performance of whole department. The teachers are such educational workers who are made targeted if the goal is not achieved. Hence, the management of teachers plays very important role to make them capable of conducting productive teaching learning activity in the classroom.

Teacher management system differs from state to state in our country. The educational awareness of the civil society and academic and managerial capability of the educational administrators largely affects its management system. It also depends on the availability of the eligible candidates for teaching profession in the state as many of the state has its own state cadre.

Teacher management in the state of Sikkim seems simple as the number of teachers in the state is very less as compared to other sister states of the country. The state has no separate sets of rule for the management of education system and to govern educational workers. Moreover, all government employees of the state are govern by common State Government Service Rules, Leave Rules and Establishment Rules. However, the department has its norms and criteria for the recruitment and placement of teachers and education managers/administrators in the form of notifications.

Type of Teacher and Eligibility

Adoption of teaching profession in primary school level, in the context of Sikkim, was quite different till last few years. Any matriculate candidate was considered eligible for the post of primary teacher. The students who hail from middle and upper class family and having good marks in matriculation continued their study without opting government jobs. The candidates having higher qualifications never approached for teaching job.

As mentioned above, rare local candidate used to come forward to pickup teaching job those days. The candidates who approached for teaching profession were only from lower class people and the candidates having less mark to adopt other options. There was no system of formal interview for teachers’ appointment till late seventies.

Teaching job is the best-paid job in the State and holds high respect in the society in accordance with the percentage of ‘teacherness’ available in the individual teacher. The time has changed. The parents do not take the teachers in general. The teachers who are committed and dedicated hold categorically high respects in the society especially among the parents. The state has three categories of teachers if the category is made as per the teaching level viz. Primary Teachers in primary level, Graduate Teachers in upper primary/secondary levels and Post Graduate Teachers in +2 level.

Primary Teacher: These teachers are normally appointed for primary level. However, these teachers are also given the classes at Pre-primary and upper primary level during the shortage of teachers in the school. There are two types of primary teachers in the state viz. general primary teachers and language primary teachers. The general primary teachers have to teach general subjects. The languages are taught in the state as vernacular subjects and there is provision of separate language teachers for every vernacular subjects. But interestingly, Nepali language, which falls under the vernacular category, has no language teachers and is taught by general teachers.

The minimum qualification of eligibility for this post is 10+2 irrespective of their streams and subject combinations at +2 levels and a certificate/diploma of professional qualification to teach primary classes like DIET, TTI, CPE etc.

Graduate Teacher: The graduate teachers are appointed for the teaching assignments in upper primary and secondary level. These teachers are also of two types – general and language. Unlike in the case primary level, the general teachers divided into three types viz. Mathematics Graduate teachers, Bio-science Graduate teachers and Arts Graduate teachers. Here the role of the teachers is more specific than the primary level. The teachers given their respective subjects to teach and has no any confusion of allocation of teaching subjects as in the case of primary level. At this level too, there is the provision of language teachers to teach language except for Nepali language. This language is to be taught by the arts graduate teachers.  The candidate applying for the post of graduate teachers should possess graduate degree with B. Ed. A candidate without B. Ed. is also permitted to sit in the interview, but if selected s/he has to complete B. Ed. within four years otherwise s/he is terminated without any notice. 

Post Graduate Teacher: These are the teachers who teach in the Senior Secondary Level i.e. Class XI & XII. These are totally subject specific teachers.

Any candidate with Master Degree is eligible to apply for this post. The professional qualifications like B.Ed. and M. Ed. are only the desirable qualification.  However, these teachers have to produce B.Ed. degree within five years of their appointment as post graduate teacher.

The teachers can also be categorized as per the subjects taught by them. There are general and vernacular subjects. The category mentioned above is the general teachers. The eligibility and appointment criteria of language teachers slightly differ with the general teachers. The language teachers are appointed to teach the languages which are kept as vernacular subject. It is already mentioned that there are 11 vernacular subjects being taught in the state. The state has the provision of separate Nepali teacher at +2 level. 

The eligibility criterion of primary language teacher is also 10+2 but they should have that particular language as the main subject in 10+2 level for which s/he has going to sit for competitive exam. However, the candidate who is applying for the language teacher of such language which is recently taken up as the vernacular subject and had no any formal institutions to teach this language earlier is considered as special case which does not need any certificates to prove her/his qualification on that language.

The appointment of language teachers in graduate and post graduate category is not started in the state. The requirements of these categories are being filled up by promoting the primary teachers on performance basis. 

Selection, Posting and Pay Scale

It is to mention that the state has no any detailed rules regarding selection, posting and transfer of teachers. There are criteria and norms formulated by the department in the form of Notifications which are followed as the rules for the selection and posting of teachers in the state. These notifications get reviewed or superseded by new one as per the requirements and situations.

The teacher appointment is done for two types of vacancies. One is already created post but fallen vacant due to death, retirement and resignation of the teachers and another one is the new post created due to the establishment of new school or up-gradation of existing schools. 

Sikkim has very simple recruitment mechanism and Directorate itself recruits all categories of teachers. The recruitment modalities of all three categories of teachers are same. The department first collects the vacancies caused due to death, retirement and resignation of teachers. Then process the file proposing the conduct of interview for the selection of particular category of teachers and roster finalization from Department of Personnel Administrative Planning, Reforms and Training (DOPART). Then the department brings out the Notification for the conduct of interview giving details of eligibility of applicants and number of posts when it gets the approval from the competent authority. The Recruitment Cell of the Department conducts competitive examination as per the issued notification. The examination generally has the written test and interview (viva voce). 

After conducting written examination, the Recruitment Cell list out the name of qualified candidates for viva-voce. Normally the weightage of viva-voce is about 10 to 15% of total marks of competitive examination. The merit list is prepared after making sum of the obtained marks in both the tests using roster and send to the DOPART to confirm the roster. After the approval accorded from DOPART, the list is displayed in the notice board. 

The posting is given to the teacher on the basis of requirement with the noting that the teacher cannot be eligible for applying transfer till s/he completes three years of continuous service in the first posting place. It is also included in the appointment order that the teacher will remain in Probation till s/he completes two years of service.

The teachers are the best paid employee of the Sikkim State Government. Their salary is higher than their counterparts serving in other departments with same qualifications and equivalent posts.  The pay scale also can be said as better if it is compared with some of the states of the country.

Sikkim has the system of common pay scale for both trained and untrained teacher. However, the untrained in-service teachers who acquire professional qualifications duly taking permission from the department are given two advance increments as per the state norms.

However, it is seen that many of the states have given special emphasis on the professional qualification of teachers and provided separate and handsome scale for trained teachers.

The present pay scale of the teachers of the state is as under:

Teachers’ Category	Scale of Pay		Remarks
	At the time of Appointment	After 10 year	Advancement grade is given to all category of teachers after 10 years of continuous service
Primary Teacher	4200-110-6400	5500-175-9000
Graduate Teacher	5500-175-9000	7000-225-11500
Post Graduate Teacher	7000-225-11500	9000-300-13800

The gross salary of the newly appointed teachers for the month of August 2008 in all the three categories are calculated and given in the box under. This shows that a primary teacher receives Rs. 10836.00 (Rupees ten thousand eight hundred thirty six) only which is Rs. 3354.00 (Rupees three thousand three hundred fifty four) only less than a graduate teacher and this difference within graduate and post graduate teacher is Rs. 3870.00 (Rupees three thousand eight hundred seventy) only. 

Gross Salary of newly appointed Primary, Graduate and Post Graduate teachers in the State (Sample Month: August, 2008)

Teachers' Category	BP	DP	TP	DA	HRA	SBCA	Gross
Primary Teacher	4200	2100	6300	2961	945	630	10836
Graduate Teacher	5500	2750	8250	3878	1238	825	14190
Post Graduate Teacher	7000	3500	10500	4935	1575	1050	18060

In Sikkim, the heads of the school are given separate pay scales. The details of pay scales of category-wise heads of school are as under:

1. Headmaster, Lower Primary School              – Rs. 4300-125-6800
2. Headmaster, Primary School                        – Rs. 5000-150-8000
3. Headmaster, Junior High School                   – Rs. 5700-200-9700
4. Headmaster, Secondary School                    – Rs. 7500-250-12500
5. Principal, Senior Secondary School              – Rs. 9000-300-13800

 Transfer of Teachers

Sikkim has no transfer rules. The schools located in the urban and easily accessible area has over crowded teachers resulting Teacher Pupil Ratio (TPR) to 1:6 to 8 and acute shortage of teachers in the schools of remote villages. The transfer is done on excess-shortage basis taking short term decision at state level when the situation nears to chaos due to teachers’ shortage in remote schools. But this also creates another chaos among the teachers and hampers the normal functioning of the schools.

Due to absence of transfer norms, Sikkim is facing great problem in teacher rationalization. It is known to all that the average Teacher Pupil Ratio (TPR) of the state is only 1:20 but it is sometime becomes more than 1:50 in the schools located in the remote corner of the state. The innocent children who are underprivileged and need more supports are being made the victims of this disproportion.

Many a time teachers consider their right to be posted in their local area/home town which too results in the shortage of the teachers in the remote schools. Moreover, many of the teachers who are posted in the native place do not teach with commitment on the pretext of other social obligations.

Promotion Avenues for Teachers and School Heads

The teachers have no any direct promotion avenues as there is no any norm on promotion. But the teachers having the qualification of next higher grade can get the chance to sit in the interview of next higher post e.g. a primary teacher having graduate qualification are given the chance to sit in the interview of graduate teacher under special provision and in the case of her/his selection her/his pay is protected duly providing all the benefits of previous service. The eligibility for such promotion avenues for teachers and school heads are under:

For Teacher

l  Every Primary Teacher having Bachelor Degree are given chance to sit in the Interview of Graduate Teachers under Special Provision.

l  Every Primary Teacher having TTI Certificate/DIET Certificate/CPE etc and 5 years of continuous service are given chance to sit in the Interview of Headmaster Primary School.

l  Every graduate teachers having B. Ed and continuous service of 5 years are given chance to sit in the interview of Headmaster, Junior High School.

l  Every graduate teachers having B. Ed and continuous service of 10 years are given chance to sit in the interview of Headmaster, Secondary School.

l  Every post graduate teachers having B. Ed./M. Ed. and continuous service of 10 years are given chance to sit in the interview of Principal.

l  Every language teachers having good performance in the school and good command in their language are given chance to sit in the promotion interview of next higher posts.

For Headmaster and Principal

l  Every junior high school head with continuous 5 years are given chance to sit in the interview of headmaster, secondary school.

l  Every secondary school head with continuous service of 5 years are given the chance to sit in the interview of Principal, senior secondary school.

l  Principal are given promotion to the Joint Director on seniority basis.

However, there is no any promotion avenue for primary school headmaster.

Academic Support System and Academic Support Structure

Teachers’ Support System is the system established to support teachers to update and enhance their performances and professional competencies. It is a platform where a teacher comes, talks about classroom processes and pedagogical issues, expresses and clears doubts, and the like. The support system has to provide onsite supports to the teachers on pedagogical and other issues related to school processes.

The following institutes are the number of Teachers Support Systems available in the State:

SIE	DIET	BRCs/ Sub-Divisional Offices	CRCs/ School Complexes	Remarks
01	01	09	131	The recently created 24 Block Administrative Centres (BACs) are being converted into BRCs in the state.

The quality in school education is the burning concern of the globe at present. The search of quality in education has led to the consumerism and emergence of education shops in the country. A literacy programme is being propagated in the name of education. The core of the education like moral ethos, work for peace, tolerance and universal brotherhood etc. are being neglected.  It is always expected that the education should groom a child with complete personality and a man of culture. Culture has metaphorically, been describe as the light that emits out of diamond, and not the diamond itself. In humans, culture represents an individual in his or her totality. Hence, it is much more than knowledge. It represents an integrated personality that is well rounded, that emits warmth and human values. It is manifested by the way an individual treats himself or herself, other human beings animals, plants, places, objects, and the like. It is the totality of the person.[1]

The availability of the efficient support structure and its organizational pattern decides efficiency of the whole system. The effective support structure with effective organizational pattern definitely brings effective outcomes.

Information about level-wise Political/Local bodies, Administrative and Academic Support structure in Elementary Education in the State:

Level	Political/Local bodies	Administrative	Academic
State	Ministry of HRDD, Govt. of Sikkim	Secretariat/Directorate of HRDD headed by the Secretary/Directors (Academics & Administration and Elementary Education & Literacy )	SIE headed by the  Director (Academics and Administration)
District	Zilla Panchayat	District HRD Office headed by the Joint Directors	One DIET at State Capital in East District headed by the Joint Director (only DIET of the State)
Sub-Division	Zilla Panchayat	Sub-Divisional HRD office headed by the Deputy Directors	Block Resource Centres headed by the BRC Coordinators
Block Administrative Centre	Zilla Panchayat	BAC level HRD office headed by the Assistant Directors	-
Cluster/Complex	Gram Panchayat, School Managing Committee	School Complexes or Cluster Resource Centres headed by the Complex Organizers or  CRC Coordinators	Cluster Resource Centres headed by the CRC Coordinators
Village	Gram Panchayat, School Managing Committee	Headmaster	CRC Coordinators/ Teachers

State Institute of Education and DIET in Sikkim:

National Institute of Education (NIE) was set up as the educational support system for the educational management at the National Level after independence and on the line of NIE, State Institute of Education (SIEs) were set up at the state level. National Institute of Education (NIE) was upgraded to Nation Council of Educational, Research and Training (NCERT) in the year 1964. Accordingly, the SIEs at the state level were also upgraded to State Institute of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). At present very few states like Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim has SIEs at the state level.

The scope of work of SIEs included in-service training of elementary school teachers, teacher education and supervision, reviewing and revising school curriculum and syllabus, providing extension services, improvement of science and environment education, population education, preparation and distribution of Audio Visual aids and publication of learning materials for elementary schools.

Its major functions include:

1. Improvement in the quality of education and teacher training at the elementary stage,
2. Improvement in the in the system of inspection and supervision,
3. Conducting research and innovations in elementary education, and
4. Coordination with the state and NCERT.[2]

The State Institute of Education in Sikkim was set up in the year 1979-81. The SIE functioned as the only academic organ of the then Education Department as it was the only agency that was involved in carrying out the various academic programmes and teacher education programmes to strengthen the manifold activities and thus ensure quality and inculcate competency the teaching learning process in the state of Sikkim.

Sometime back a team was constituted at the state level to strengthen the SIE by upgrading into the SCERT. The team had recommended the restructuring of SIE into SCERT. Since SIE is not notified as SCERT, though it caters the service of SCERT for the state. It functions as the academic wing of the Directorate of Human Resource Development Department. The different cells at SIE are as under:

1.     English

2.     Mathematics

3.     Science

4.     Social Studies

5.     Population Education and

6.     Extension Services

The SIE, Sikkim conducts training programmes for different levels from primary to senior secondary level teachers.

SIE is the apex level academic body in the state of Sikkim for school education and teacher education. SIE, Sikkim works in the following areas:

ü  Curricular research, development, design as well as curriculum renewal

ü  Textbook renewal

ü  To conduct action research and CCE.

ü  Develop modules/materials for teacher training

ü  Develop teaching learning materials

ü  To mentor and provide guidance to DIET

ü  To train teacher educators, Teachers, other administrative personnel

ü  To develop new methodologies for learning/curriculum transaction

 District Institute of Education and Training in Sikkim

DIET is the district level Teachers’ Support System established as envisaged by the National Policy of Education (NPE) 1986. On this centrally sponsored scheme, almost all the states and Union Territories of Indian Union are covered. The major functions of DIETs include the following:

1. providing pre-service and in-service education to elementary school teachers;
2. providing training courses and continuing education to non-formal and adult education instructors and supervisors, and also providing the services of resource and learning centres to teachers and instructors; and
3. conducting action research and experiments.[3]

Sikkim has only one functional DIET at the State Capital, Gangtok, in the East District of the state. The DIETs for other three Districts are still to be operational. The only DIET which, at present located at Gangtok, has a long history. It was established as Teachers Training Institute (TTI) just 3 years after the formation of Directorate (1954) by the Maharaja of Sikkim. The Existing DIET which was established in the year 1957 as Teachers Training Institute (TTI) at Temi School, South Sikkim was later on shifted to Pelling in West District of Sikkim and finally it was shifted to Gangtok and upgraded as DIET in the year 1989-90.

Manpower of Existing DIET:

Principal	Teaching Staff		Non- Teaching Staff
	Subject Expert	Physical Education Instructor	Grade III	Grade IV
01	08	01	07	05

Source: DIET (2007-08)

Apart from the regular pre-service teacher education for elementary stage, DIET also undertakes the following training pogrammes:

1. Development of textbook for monastic school.
2. Orientation programme for heads of primary school
3. Undertake academic inspection of schools.
4. 40 days orientation/training for school mothers
5. Training on philosophy and goal of SSA
6. Training for community ownership of educational institutions
7. Conduct pretest and posttest especially during content enrichment programme.

The entire training programme mentioned above also incorporate the following areas to make the teachers aware:

a)     Latest teaching techniques

b)     AIDS

c)     Disaster Management

d)     Inclusive Education

e)     Adolescence Education

f)      Child Psychology

g)     School Organization

h)     Health Education.

DIET also provides following supports to SSA as and when needed:

1.          Providing academic support to schools

2.          Curriculum and Textbook development

3.          Development of state specific Monitoring Tools

4.          Prepare in-service training package for primary teachers.

Block Resource Centre and Cluster Resource Centre

Block Resource Centre as the teachers’ support system came into existence after the inception of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the country. It is the downward percolation of support system to sub-district levels so as to make support system nearer to implementation level. However, the concept of Cluster Resource Centre is not new as there was the system of school complexes.

In Sikkim, there is the sub-division office with an Assistant Director who looks after the schools at falling under his jurisdiction. After the inception of SSA in the state, the senior secondary schools located in the sub-divisional headquarter is identified as the Block Resource Centres and the principals of those schools were designated as the Block Resource Centre Coordinators (BRCC). The BRCCs conduct the 20-day in-service training of the teachers working within their jurisdiction. 

Regarding Cluster Resource Centres (CRC), the state renamed the existing school complexes as the Cluster Resource Centres and the complex organizers are designated as the Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators (CRCC). The CRCCs conduct cluster level meetings of teachers, inspection of their feeder schools and provide academic supports to the teachers wherever it is felt necessary.

Teacher Training

The NPE – Programme of Action (PoA) envisaged a child-centered approach to promote universal

enrolment and universal retention of children up to 14 years of age and substantial improvement in the quality of education in the school.[4] It is the matter of 1992 i.e. almost 16 years before but the concept of child centered schooling is yet to be percolated down to teachers and cross the portals of the classroom.

‘Child-centered’ pedagogy means giving primacy to children’s experiences, their voices and their active participation.[5] The children are to be made involved in the teaching learning process by making the class joyful and nearer to their daily observations and experiences. This is possible only if the teaching learning process is made more democratic, activity based, participatory and communicative. Too often teachers enter the classroom not knowing how too make a lesson plan, to handle discipline problems, to talk with parents, to ask different questions on different levels of complexity, to work with small groups of children, to analyze learning difficulties, to grade papers, to give different kinds of tests, to conduct field trips, to involve students with widely different ability and achievement levels in overcrowded classrooms, to use computers and other instructional aids as teaching resources, to lead discussions and on and on.[6] Moreover, this sort of pedagogical expertise requires specific trainings.

Sikkim has cleared backlog of maximum untrained teachers in recent years by providing trainings on distant

mode from IGNOU. The Certificate Programme in Primary Education (CPE), a 6-month certificate course on teacher education was provided to the untrained in-service primary teachers. The untrained in-service graduate teachers were provided B.Ed. degree course during 2003 to 2006. The course fees related to both the courses were born by the government and two advance increments were also conferred to the teachers who successfully complete the course.

State Institute of Education and District Institute of Education and Training jointly conduct trainings of the teachers. DIET was running one year in-service Training programme for primary teachers who did not have professional qualification from 1979 to 2003. Presently DIET, is offering two year pre-service teachers education for the elementary stage. Target groups are identified by district authorities. Once the training is scheduled the district authorities are required to nominate teachers. These teachers are called at DIET through District authorities. They are trained on those areas based on the requirements submitted by district concerned. Duration of training is decided as per the course content and the methodology is decided by DIET depending upon the target. Inspection team is constituted and follow up strategy is developed depending on which area is to be studied or taken care of.

The major areas on which the SIE and DIET conduct the teachers training are as under:

1. Conduct training programme for DRGs/BRPs identified by the District Project Offices of all four district of the state, who in turn conduct training to in-service primary teachers in respective districts and blocks in 20-day in-service teachers training mode.
2. Organize content enrichment training programme for in-service primary teachers teaching English, EVS and Mathematics on need based as proposed by District Heads.
3. Conduct training programme for BRCs and CRCs as per the demand of the District Head like classroom observation/monitoring and supervision.
4. Training programmes of TLM development and its use in classroom is prepared keeping in view the duration and the target group.
5. District authorities nominate the working Post Graduate Teachers who are trained by DIET to work as Resource Persons.

 20-day Training conducted under SSA

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has different dimensions on quality intervention. One among them is the teacher

training. The teacher trainings incorporated in the SSA intervention are of three types which given as under:

¨ 20-day training for in-service teachers;

¨ 30-day training for newly recruited teachers; and

¨ 60-day training for untrained teachers.

The state has conducted 20-day typed in-service teachers training in phase wise manner on content up-gradation and pedagogy for in-service primary teachers. The total numbers of teachers covered under this training as on 31^st 2008 is 2879 which is 67.84% of the total primary teachers of the state.

Teachers Performance Appraisal and Teacher Recognition

It is often seen that the inefficient and non-performing workers get away without any action against them. Sincere workers have hardly any incentive to put in more and become discouraged. Performance Appraisal is one of the effective tools to strengthen the individual accountability of an employee. It also helps to track both the performing and non-performing, committed and non-committed, competent and incompetent, committed and non-committed, confident and non-confident, workers within the system.

Performance appraisal of teacher is one of the best instruments for the improvement of teaching and learning in the classrooms. It helps the teachers to identify his strengths and weaknesses in the management of teaching-learning process and enhance his professional skills and performance. As such it would improve the overall management of school and provide an opportunity to consider the effective management of change.[7]

Sikkim has the system of filling up the Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) as performance appraisal especially at the time of promotion and sanctioning Advancement Grade. This confidential report is not seen that much effective to enhance the teachers’ productivity and accountability system. Moreover, these confidential reports are not handled confidentially many of the time.

The State Government has already declared an award called ‘Shikshak Shiromani’ which will be the highest award for the teachers in the state.  The details of selection processes and the criteria are being devised. Other than this, the committed and dedicated teachers are being given recognition by parents and PRIs. The department has its own scheme to give the recognition to teachers through appreciation letter, commendation certificate and awards.

The following certificate and awards are conferred to the renowned teachers of the state every year on the auspicious occasion of Teachers’ Day:

1. Commendation Certificate for 16 teachers;
2. State Award for 08 teachers; and
3. National Award for 02 teachers.

Problems and Issues

Some of the major problems which need to be addressed are as under:

1. Teacher Rationalization
2. Inadequate Teacher Support System
3. Conventional Teaching Practices
4. Traditional system of Monitoring and Supervision

The state is facing problems due to the lack of norms or guidelines pertaining to the transfers and postings of teachers. It has affected the education of the innocent children who are studying in the schools located in the remote corner of the state. However, it is also seen that some of the state having these norms are not adhering to the norms.  Thus, it became a dilemma to have or not to have the norms and guidelines of transfer and posting of teachers in the state.

Another problem of the state is the inadequate Teacher Support System. It is already mentioned that SIE, Sikkim is doing the job of SCERT in the state and has very less time even to conduct short term trainings like orientation, refresher courses etc. The only DIET of the state always remains preoccupied with PST programme. It hardly can spare time to conduct panel academic visits to the schools or any short term training programmes. Because of this, teachers are getting very less academic supports and chance to update themselves.

It has been observed that the approaches being adopted by the educational managers (inspecting officials/school heads) to monitor, supervise and evaluate the educational institutions as a supervising and monitoring official of the department are not meeting the expectations and perceptions of the government and the civil society.   Moreover, it is seen that the concepts and modalities of monitoring, supervision and evaluation of school education varies from person to person. There is neither specific set of targets diagnosed to be focused upon during the school visits nor specific techniques being adopted to diagnose the inadequacies on teaching learning processes.

 Conclusion

Since the concerns and prospective of education is being changed, the ways of managing the teachers is to be changed accordingly to meet up the inadequacies created by liberalization, privatization and globalization.  The clear cut role definitions of every category of employees, their role relations to execute the works, re-engineering of the management set-up that suit the nature of the working system, re-engineering of the monitoring, supervision and evaluation system etc are some of the areas of desirable systemic reforms at present. It is also expected that the management system should have the target on the upliftment of morale of the workers that inculcate the sense of accountability within them.

India being a country of diversified cultures, traditions, languages and living styles, a single set of management technique will not be pragmatic enough at the lowest level of management. Thus, it became the duty of the educationists and academicians of the country to work for the new era of Teacher Management.

References:

1.     Mahajan, Baldev and Majumdar, Srilekha. (1995) Educational Administration in Sikkim, New Delhi, NIEPA.

2.     Mukhopadhyay, Marmar and Tyagi, RS (Eds.) (2001) Governance of School Education in India. New Delhi, NIEPA.

3.     Government of Sikkim. (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 & 2008-09). AWP&Bs, Gangtok, Human Resource Development Department

4.     Government of Sikkim. (2003-04 & 2004-05). Annual Report, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Gangtok, Human Resource Development Department, State Project Office, SSA.

5.     Risley, H.H. (1894) Gazetteer of Sikkim, Calcutta,  Bengal Secretariat Press

6.     Mukhopadhaya, Marmar. Total Quality Management, New Delhi, NIEPA.

7.     Government of India. Programme of Action, New Delhi, MHRD

8.     Government of India. National Curriculum Framework 2005, New Delhi, NCERT, MHRD

9.     Tyagi, R.S. Performance Appraisal and Professional Development of Teachers

10.  Long, Dilbert and Riegle, Rodney. (2002) Teacher Education – The Key To Effective School Reform, London, Bergin & Garvey

11.  DISE 2007-08

12.  Internet Websites

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[1] Mukhopadhyay, Marmar, Total Quality Management in Education p. 26

[2] Governance of School Education in India, Editors: Dr. Marmar Mukhopadhyay and Dr. RS Tyagi

[3] Governance of School Education in India, Editors: Dr. Marmar Mukhopadhyay and Dr. RS Tyagi, p. 282

[4] PoA p.77

[5] NCF 2005, p. 13

[6] Long, Dilbert and Riegle, Rodney, Teacher Education – The Key To Effective School Reform, p. 84

[7] Tyagi, R.S., Performance Appraisal and Professional Development of Teachers p. 2