The Centre is set to introduce performance-linked promotion for schoolteachers.

The National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), the apex regulatory body on teacher education, is holding consultations with teachers and other stakeholders on a draft National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) document prepared by it. It is not clear whether the NPST will be binding on the states or will be a guiding document.

Under the proposal, teachers in government and aided schools will have four career stages — beginner teacher, proficient teacher, expert teacher and lead teacher, with each having a separate salary structure. The teachers will be able to apply for promotion for the first two promotions after every three years, following which they will have to take a self-evaluation and then apply with an assessment agency if they meet the criteria, much like the appraisal in the private sector. The document does not mention after how many years one will be eligible for the lead teacher’s post.

Existing teachers will also be under the ambit of the proposed policy, although it is not clear yet how.

Now, different states have different policies on schoolteachers.

In Bengal, teachers in both government and aided schools have only one rank, that of assistant teacher. They can become assistant headmaster based on vacancies in individual schools and headmaster based on a fresh centralised recruitment system.

In government schools in Bengal, teachers get a salary increment every eighth, 16th and 25th year while in aided schools they receive two hikes every 10 years.

If the NCTE proposals are accepted, teachers will be able to get promotions like their peers in colleges and universities, will have tangible career incentives and also receive pay hikes faster. At the same time, it will ensure that teachers update themselves regularly, acquire new skills and improve their teaching methods as the promotions and consequent salary hikes will be based on performance.

In India, there are nearly 15 lakh government and aided schools engaging 9.7 million teachers. Nearly one million teacher’s posts are vacant.

According to the NPST, during the evaluation for promotion, the teachers will be expected to possess certain core values like knowledge of the Constitution, professional ethics, commitment to students, professional relationships, professional knowledge and understanding.

“A teacher will meet the pre-requisite by acquiring the skills and sharing evidence of the competencies to reach the target career stage. On meeting the standards of a stage, a teacher gets certified and then formally progresses to that stage,” the document says.

After reaching a particular stage, a teacher will have to apply in his or her teaching practices the competencies acquired in the previous stage.

After clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), the would-be teachers will have to apply with the NCTE or a nominated accreditation agency in the respective states to register with a national registry of teachers as a beginner teacher, according to the NPST.

The agency/school will conduct an interview and assesses the credentials of the candidate before offering a job. After joining a school, the teacher’s performance will be assessed after one year.