Teacher Motivation in India

This paper is based on a recent study on teacher motivation in India, which is part of an international research project on this topic covering 12 countries in South Asia and Africa. This study is based on review of government data, policy documents and published material on India and interviews with stakeholders in the state of Rajasthan and rapid survey in ten schools of Tonk District of Rajasthan. This report therefore draws upon national trends and explores them in the context of Rajasthan.The key issues pertaining to the motivation of primary school teachers can be summarised as follows: First, the education system has expanded rapidly and enrolment rates have shot up. But growth rate in the number of teachers has not kept pace with the rise in enrolment.Second, the social distance between the teachers and the children is wide in government schools (which cater to the very poor). Third, teachers lack the skills to manage so much diversity in the classroom. Fourth, systemic issues dealing with corruption have vitiated the larger teaching environment in the country. Fifth, teachers’ unions and block and district-level administrators claim they are asked to do a range of non-teaching taskswhich them away from the classroom. Sixth, teacher training has picked up since 1994 with almost all teachers expected to attend a range of training programmes every year. Seventh, teachers and administrators are continuously embroiled in court cases to do with promotions and placements, claiming arrears due to them and disciplinary action-related issues.