The National Council of Teacher Education is being given more regulatory powers like issuing directions to regional committees and revising orders on matters of recognition of training institutes.
The government is planning to bring a legislation in this regard in the coming Budget Session of Parliament by amending the National Council for Teacher Education Act amid mounting criticism over the issue of recognition and quality of teacher training institutes.
The amendment would empower the Council to issue directives to the regional committees on matters of policy and effective implementation of the Act.
It will also enable NCTE 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, sources in the HRD Ministry 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 sources, the amendment will also do away with some of the the obstacles in carrying out inspections of the institutes.
A note is being circulated in this regard among different Ministries before it is placed in the Union Cabinet for approval.
The development 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 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 satisfactory standard.
During a recent meeting of state eduction secretaries, HRD Ministry is understood to have asked them to discuss the Verma Commission recommendations at the state level and present their report to the Ministry.
The government is planning to bring a legislation in this regard in the coming Budget Session of Parliament by amending the National Council for Teacher Education Act amid mounting criticism over the issue of recognition and quality of teacher training institutes.
The amendment would empower the Council to issue directives to the regional committees on matters of policy and effective implementation of the Act.
It will also enable NCTE 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, sources in the HRD Ministry 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 sources, the amendment will also do away with some of the the obstacles in carrying out inspections of the institutes.
A note is being circulated in this regard among different Ministries before it is placed in the Union Cabinet for approval.
The development 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 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 satisfactory standard.
During a recent meeting of state eduction secretaries, HRD Ministry is understood to have asked them to discuss the Verma Commission recommendations at the state level and present their report to the Ministry.