MA (Education) and MEd both will be considered equivalent degrees for the appointment of Assistant professor, as per a recent judgement passed by the Supreme Court invalidating a verdict of the Allahabad High Court which contained that MEd qualified professionals would not be appointed as Assistant professors.
Hailing the decision of the apex court, CB Sharma, professor, Education, IGNOU, says, “Both degrees should be considered relevant for the post of Assistant professor. The Allahabad High Court’s decision to strike down MEd professionals for the post of Assistant professor is a reflection of the poor performance of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The court’s decision must have aimed at eliminating the large number of candidates who apply for the limited number of seats for the post.”
Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, professor Sharma said that the new policy has declared that over 10,000 Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) are not even providing quality education in the teaching profession and such institutes are creating unqualified professionals for just business.
The NEP aims at eliminating such institutes and improving the status of teacher training in the country.
Haneet Gandhi, professor, Department of Education, University of Delhi has applauded the decision as a positive move. He said, “Both degrees should be considered for the post of Assistant professor. MEd is a professional degree programme and MA (Education) is a liberal option. The education department in DU has a programme in MEd, but currently, it does not have an MA (Education). The NCTE regulates the MEd programme, while the MA (Education) is not regulated by the council. Therefore, there is no point in restricting MEd professionals for applying to the post of Assistant professor.”
MEd or MA
The MEd program aims more at the practical aspect of teaching. The curriculum is devised in such a manner that innovative and new methods of instruction and educational research can be imparted to the students. While MA (Education) deals with advanced teaching in theoretical subjects and focuses on building leadership qualities among the students.
Alka Muddgal, head, Amity Institute of Education, Amity University, says, “MEd and MA (Education) are both two years postgraduate programmes but they are very different. While MEd is a professional degree course recognised by NCTE, MA (Education) is from the stream of Arts and Humanities. The former degree aims at imparting the innovative and new methods of teaching and educational research. While the latter is designed to impart educational thoughts and processes to the students. It fundamentally deals with the basic aspects of education which are human rights psychology, value education etc. It also analyses theories related to education and their application.”
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Sarla Santwani, Principal, KJ Somaiya College of Education, feels opposite of Allahabad Court. She says for applying to the post of Assistant professor, MEd must be treated as the primary and necessary requirement.
“To my view, MEd curriculum involves an internship in BEd Colleges, whereas an internship is not essential for MA (Edu). MEd also has a mandatory component of research and dissertation. The same is optional for some universities offering a MA (Edu). Therefore, for the post of an Assistant professor, MEd should be the primary and essential requirement. MEd students are also given preference as they can teach general as well as school pedagogy subjects,” Santwani says.