Abbott-Wood Report, 1937
During the Second World War, the country was facing many political challenges. Abbott-Wood report was published at this time, which had indirect effect on the prevailing teacher education system of the country. The structure, procedure and the whole system ofteacher education was studied in detail. It found that working conditions of teachers were miserable, especially for the teachers from rural areas.
To develop the quality and standard of teaching, refresher courses and conferences were recommended for working teachers and in training colleges. The report also recommended to start vocational teachers’ college. At the same time in 1937, Basic education was started by Mahatma Gandhi, leading to the training of teachers for basic schools. In 1938, a Basic Training College was set-up at Allahabad and the Vidyamandir Training School was started at Wardha in 1938. Gandhi’s Wardha Scheme was child-centered education and it provided opportunity to students to earn while learning.
The new system of education had indirect effect on the training of teachers. Teachers had to internalize the teaching methods and procedures to teach students.
The success of this education rests on the shoulder of teachers who trained the students under Wardha Scheme. For the successful implementation of Wardha Scheme, two types of training curricula were introduced—short-term and long term. Long-term training extended for a long period of three years but short-term period was for a short span of one year. During the training period, teachers were expected to stay in hostels attached to the training institutes since both were residential programmes. Later, the training system spread to other parts of the country.
The percentage of trained teachers improved from 56.8 per cent in 1937 to 61.3 per cent in 1942. Still, there was much to be done to improve the qualitative aspect. In 1941, there were 612 normal schools out of which 376 were for men and 236 for women. There were twenty-five training colleges which were inadequate and could not meet the demand. Vidya Bhawan teacher’s College in Rajasthan and Tilak College of Education in Poona were started in 1941. Bombay was the first to start a doctorate degree in education the same year.
In 1941, the Vidya Bhawan Teacher’s College was started in Rajasthan and the Tilak College of Education in Poona. Bombay took the lead in starting a doctorate degree in education the same year.