Committee to assess skills of teachers in govt-run schools

The School Education Department decision to assess the quality of teachers comes in the backdrop of an order from the Madras High Court that recently directed the State government to appoint a special team to assess the quality of teaching.

A senior official from the Directorate of School Education told DT Next that following the court order, the government has decided to form a committee, led by the District Education Officer, and comprising teachers and members of parent-teacher associations.

Stating that at present there are about 3.02 lakh teachers working in government and government- aided primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools across the State, the official said the committee will be visiting each and every school not only to assess the teaching quality of its faculty but also to evaluate the knowledge acquired by the students.

“It has also come to our notice that many teachers do not complete the portions in time and are not taking classes properly, especially in the rural areas,” the official said, adding that as the new education policy will also be introduced in the State shortly, the assessment of teaching skills will also ensure better education to students in the future.

Claiming the assessment of teaching quality will be done before the year-end, the official said the periodical inspection report will be reviewed and action will accordingly be taken.

“Teachers, who are found to have less teaching skills, will be given special in-service training to sharpen the quality of teaching in order to take classes effectively in schools”, the official said.

According to the official, special training will be given to teachers by experts from the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) and academicians from the Tamil Nadu State Council of Research and Training (SCERT).

The official also pointed out that after the introduction of the new education policy with necessary amendments by the State, the special teams will also conduct regular inspection on how the new system is being implemented in schools.