Need for quality teaching across all levels: Tharoor

Emphasizing the need for quality teaching across all levels of education, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor Friday said issues like availability of teachers need to be addressed.

Addressing the Committee on National Mission on Teachers and Training, he highlighted issues in the education sector that needed to be addressed like availability of teachers, the quality deficit in teaching, and the challenges and issues of contract teachers.

Tharoor also spoke on inadequate representation of socially disadvantaged categories in the teaching profession, accountability and poor quality of training institutions.

A draft report to look into different issues in the teacher education sector was presented by the vice chancellor of National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA).

The report spoke of managing demand and supply of qualified teachers, attracting talented youth to teaching profession, continuing professional development of teachers, attracting and retaining teachers from SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and differently-abled and improving quality of teacher education in schools and higher education.

The meeting was attended among others by education ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.