![Sample our Education journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5932/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Education.jpg"})
Abstract
Decentralisation is often expected to improve democratic participation and empowerment, and improve government responsiveness to local needs. International experience demonstrates that striking the right balance between centralisation and decentralisation remains highly challenging, and that developing appropriate institutional capacity to discharge new responsibilities is difficult and often neglected – yet both are crucial to effective decentralisation. Taking a sample of six district institutes of education and training (DIETs) across three states as a case study, this paper explores India's policy and processes of decentralising teacher education. It identifies as major barriers to the emergence of DIETs their recruitment and staffing policies, and contested agendas of power, control and accountability. Yet it also finds evidence from two districts of progress towards establishing productive partnerships, in an emerging process of decentralisation that is allowing the DIETs to play a significant role in supporting teachers. Here, the DIET idea is justified, and the potential of a decentralised teacher education system to improve systemic accountability towards quality improvement and primary teachers is demonstrated.
Notes
The research project was funded by the UK's Department for International Development. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the funding organisation.
Data collection was completed before the introduction of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (DEEL, Citation2002), and before institutional reform in Madhya Pradesh provided a legal framework for the devolution of real power to the district level. Further details on the wider implications of both can be found in Dyer et al. (Citation2004).
SCERTs go by different names in each state: the State Institute for Educational Research and Training in Rajasthan (SIERT), the Gujarat Council for Educational Research and Training (GCERT) in Gujarat, while in Madhya Pradesh the council is referred to as the SCERT. I have called them all ‘SCERT/equivalent’ here for convenience.
Joint, although not necessarily equal, central government and state funding for a scheme whose parameters are defined by the centre.