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Para‐teacher scheme and quality education for all in India: policy perspectives and challenges for school effectiveness

Improvement in the quality, efficiency, and equity of education, to a considerable extent, depends on the nexus of teaching and learning, which is in turn influenced by the quality of teachers. The teacher has been identified as the single most important factor influencing the quality of education by the Indian Education Commission and the National Policy on Education. Consequently, the government of India, like that of many other developing countries, has been trying to meet the challenge of improving the quality of education by improving teacher quality on several fronts—by raising pre‐service education requirements, improving teacher training, increasing the diversity of the teaching force and promoting stronger participation by local government and community organizations. However, the appointment of contract teachers, popularly termed as ‘para‐teachers’, in the primary education sector at a mass level raises serious question regarding the quality of education at primary level, as in the majority of schemes the academic and professional qualifications for these teachers have been relaxed and lowered as compared to those of regular teachers. They are also paid less. Therefore, a peculiar situation is prevailing in India's primary schools where we have two sets of teachers appointed as ‘regular’ and ‘para‐teachers’ working in the same school and performing the same duties, but are governed by different service conditions. This situation raises questions such as ‘Can India aspire to quality education and school effectiveness in such a situation?’, ‘Who are these para‐teachers, what is the rationale behind their appointment and how widespread is the practice?’ These and other important concerns are discussed in this paper, and the implications identified for school effectiveness and quality of primary education in India.