The aim of this paper is to study the quality of existing teacher education programmes (BEd and MEd) of teacher training colleges in order to determine their strength, effectiveness and weakness in terms of their respective objectives and their suitability in Bangladesh. The paper has been prepared on the basis of information gathered from field experience, published and unpublished sources, seminar papers and newspaper articles on teacher education. The paper denotes that curricula, which are being offered, and innovation being pursued in teacher education in Bangladesh are primarily centred upon ideas, contents and even practices that were borrowed mostly from the western world.
Although a discernible trend of reversal of the process has begun from the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, very little conscious effort is known to have been made to conduct appropriate research studies for curricula innovations development in various programmes of education and to make rational decisions on the basis of in-depth research. Indeed, arbitrary personal judgements and preferences are still the basis of whatever revisions and innovations have been attempted in this field. Therefore, the impact of the teacher education programmes on educational development is very little.
The paper indicates that teacher education programmes in Bangladesh have been structured and evolved following the western education policy and, in many cases, it looses its essence according to the contextual need.
Furthermore, the state of affairs are found to be poorly planned, weak in policy planning (including influence of politics), inappropriate teaching methods, and inadequate supervision and management. Moreover, the duration of the programmes are generally quite short (one academic year). The curricula of the teacher education programmes are bound to be limited in scope since appropriate teaching methodology and adequate time space are practice in system.
Finally, the paper provides a preventive guide and recommendations for the strategic plans to assure the quality of the programmes. It is felt that more in-service teachers training may improve the situation. There should be a concerted effort by the professional bodies, policy-makers, teachers, educationists to work together for adopting appropriate policy related to teachers recruitment, and adoption of skill-based teaching methods according to the needs of time.
The paper also recommends that teacher education should be integrated with higher education and its curricula should be revised in order to produce teachers and educational leaders of high standards who would be able to achieve national goals.
The applicability of teacher education may be improved by incorporating related contents in the programmes, which may be more consistent with the objective conditions of the country as well as fulfilling the desire of the people. Primary Training Institute (PTI) should be raised to the collegiate status. These institutions should be more equipped and organized. Supply of learning resources, researches on planning models, teaching and learning techniques and evaluative instruments are also suggested for quality improvement.