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Since the spread of mass education around the world in the mid- to late-twentieth century, teacher quality has been heralded as the key factor to improve education quality nationwide. National education systems worldwide are also engaged in ongoing and often high stakes cross-national comparisons. As a result, policy-makers and educators in most national education systems are looking at and implementing new ways to improve education overall by raising teacher quality levels, and India is no exception. In India, teacher quality is publicly blamed for both perceived low education quality and demonstrated low average student performance, especially following Indian students’ performance on the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment. Indian education policy-makers are, therefore, looking at teacher quality as a key factor to improve student performance. Little is known about the impact or implementation of Indian policy frameworks on teacher quality and associated student outcomes in India. This introductory chapter identifies and analyzes various measures of teacher quality and how teacher quality varies in India both in response to and in spite of national policies related to teacher quality. It begins by providing evidence regarding the global importance of teacher quality on student outcomes and then addresses the ambiguity of the term “teacher quality.” This chapter then briefly discussed national education policy in India and the role teacher quality has played in these national policies, especially in the early twenty-first century, including NCF 2005, NCFTE 2009, Draft NPE 2016, Draft NPE 2019, and NPE 2020.

Finland’s globally accepted teaching practices are purely based on common sense, and holistically promote equity over excellence. “New Wine in a new bottle” literally means unlearning old thoughts and relearning new skills updated to changes in the world recouping to new trends and establishing ourselves full-fledged meeting the demand of the hour. The question of why India still doesn’t get enough Noble Prizes in required disciplines is still unanswerable. Still in India, there exist the archaic forms of the classroom setting with little room for flexibility and no educational freedom; moreover, with a highly pressurised testing environment. With the increasing population of Indian set-up, most of the teachers are underpaid and are less satisfied with the amount of effort they put in and their pay scale. A paradigm shift could be expected in India’s educational landscape post the introduction of the National Education Policy 2020; by reducing the academic workload for students and improving their holistic intelligence thereby. The NEP framework has been structured based on certain practical pedagogies from the Finnish context. The 5+3+3+4 model would encourage students to make their communication more effective, prioritising creativity, critical thinking, and personality development; say, various experts. There is a direct connection between education and poverty level in an economy. If the system lacks quality, then it would adversely affect the economic functioning of a nation. This study highlights the cases from both the Indian and Finnish contexts, clarifying the loopholes in our education system and what lessons could be incorporated from the Finnish model; so as to devise a policy at the national level for re-engineering the impoverished situations, keeping in mind sustainable architecture. This chapter is the first of its kind not ever published elsewhere and is original in nature.

Indian education system is obligated to assure “accessibility” to the “quality” preschool education for all children. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has emphasised this endeavor loudly and provided clear directions to bring quality in the preschool education through effective implementation strategies. En route to this, trained and motivated preschool teachers are considered as the key factor for quality assurance. Diversity of the Indian society (language, culture, socio-economic status), variety of preschool service providers, different models of preschool education system, uneven salary structure, work load, shortage of support system, huge teacher children ratio, and unregulated sector of teacher preparation are the upfront challenge for the quality of preschool teachers and teacher education. Recruitment of trained preschool teachers, assured career growth, performance-based promotions and salary structure, regulated teacher preparation programs, adherence to the other quality standards for preschool education, digital/distance mode of obtaining required qualifications, and development of strong mechanism for monitoring; supervision as well as on-site mentoring of preschool teachers are some of the major milestones set by the government in the policy. With all this, the most important aspect is to provide encouraging and respectful environment for preschool teachers to keep them happy, contented, and motivated. The teachers, who are prepared in this way contribute in the lives of young children by creating warm and welcoming environment when they enter preschool. The NEP 2020 has brought hope, possibilities, and directions in this regard.

The role and performance of a teacher is central to the teaching and learning process in any educational system, but they are often misinterpreted in the context of educational monitoring and quality assurance. Although efforts to relate teacher quality to educational quality are rarely challenged, establishing linkages between teacher quality and student performance have proven to be complex and inconclusive. This holds true especially in the Indian context wherein teachers experience diverse working conditions that may make traditional measures of teacher quality seem impractical and speculative. Teacher roles and performance, apart from being subjected to contrasting realities in schooling systems, are influenced by cultural capital, systemic forces, and teacher education programs. This chapter attempts to unravel the complexities of an Indian school teacher and highlight some of the issues that teachers are likely to face and grapple within their work situations. Nevertheless, the role of a professional and humane teacher will stand paramount in building the future of India.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in India were caught completely unawares by the Covid-19 pandemic and necessitated lockdown. Despite almost two decades of experimentation with online and distance learning by top-tier and private institutions, the vast majority were unprepared and looked for standalone solutions for different components of teaching and learning. Valuable lessons have been learned based on which a more comprehensive solution must be sought for the post-Covid-19 environment. The lockdown has provided the much-needed impetus to reshape higher education in India. Calls for the adoption of blended learning (BL) have been made on prior occasions; this chapter renews that call and stresses its urgency. It is imperative that educational institutions amplify the momentum gained during the lockdown and transition to a BL model supported by the adoption and use of learning management systems (LMSs). Government should support this initiative by providing a centralized LMS. Corporations must “adopt an HEI,” channeling their unused corporate social responsibility funds to support information and communication technology needs at educational institutions. All stakeholders must work together to transform the country to a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy as envisioned in the National Education Policy 2020.

At the heart of educational work is the teacher; and, everybody in the society from parents to the federal government, school administrators, industry, policy-makers, teacher educators, and not-for-profit organizations carry certain notions about the practice of teaching and work of teachers. Each constituency desires to have able, committed, and qualified teachers to care for the young ones of their society. Developing quality teachers is intricately linked to the quality of teacher education. Teacher educator professionalism is central to the improvement of teacher education and therefore school learning, and needs greater emphasis in the context of India. This chapter begins by outlining the work of teacher educators in higher education-based initial teacher preparation programs. It then gives a brief overview of the changes in initial teacher education in the early twenty-first century. This chapter further analyses the various dimensions of teacher educators’ quality of practice as framed by educational documents to gather insights about their practice among the diverse contexts in India. This chapter makes a plea to teacher educators in India to come together as a collective and take responsibility for strengthening quality teaching in India. This chapter concludes with a proposal for a framework of professional practice of teacher educators.

Purpose: This chapter explores the changing global dynamics of employability and the current skill gaps among college students. Employability is defined as the measure of how desirable an individual is in the workforce, that is, their skills and knowledge. This chapter is centred on the students’ existing skills, missing skills, and the skill requirements of different industries.

Methodology: For this study, both primary and secondary data have been collected. Case studies have been used to analyse the skill gaps among students and industry requirements. Primary data has been collected from Indian students and case studies from other countries.

Findings: After conducting primary surveys and analysing case studies, we were able to conclude that there are serious skill gaps among students – especially in industries related to new emerging technologies. Educational institutes are not keeping pace with technological changes, and, in some cases, are not taking care of students’ interests. This is a serious problem for unemployed youth around the world.

Practical Implications: This chapter will help design the curriculum, addressing core issues of skill shortages in the labour market in developing and underdeveloped countries, decreasing the labour shortage and increasing employment, and helping countries’ national income.

Significance: This study is important as it addresses the issue of unemployment by providing a clear understanding of the present needs of industries. Educational institutions and the government will be able to design the best curriculum and education policies to provide the youth with all the necessary skills to help them fulfil the needs of industries.

The present world is captivated by the global challenges of climate change, environmental and ecological degradation, challenges related to migration, inequality, conflict and unrest. The development process failed to appreciate and signify the role of non-value, non-materialistic and altruistic value of both living and non-living natural entities. Thus, a significant disconnect or gap between public policy and human well-being has been observed. The departure of human beings from their true self has also distanced humans from the rest of the species and ecosystem. The essence of altruistic value and its recognition is plausible only through the upliftment and evolution of the inner self. The interconnectivity of the inner and outer world can be perceived through self-evolution. A public policy that is driven by the force of self-enhancement and realization, connecting and synthesizing human and non-human interactions selflessly, is required for revolutionizing the development paradigm. Against this backdrop, Gandhian philosophy that values the individual and his relationship with his true self becomes instrumental in ethical transformation. The self-transformation, manifestation and realization of truth and love are deeply embedded in Gandhian Revolution. Gandhian philosophy is a phenomenal illustration of self-transformation based on self–realization and soul force (Satyagraha) that acts as a driving force for a paradigm shift. Gandhian thoughts recognize the otherness of others (either human beings or nature), embedded in the notion of ‘Sarvodaya’. Based on spiritual inquiry and ethical value judgement, and cosmic interdependence, the Gandhian notion constitutes a building block for a non-violent socioeconomic system guided by empathy and the law of non-possession. The twin models, ‘The trusteeship model’ and ‘Economy of Permanence’, advocate a spiritual inquiry and ethical value judgement in economics and governance. Addressing the economic problem of scarcity and choice, the attributes of decentralization, self-sufficiency and self-reliance envisage that individuals are satisfied with minimum consumption. In addition, non-violence, truth and love create a subsequent balance in ecology and the environment. Ethical responsibility is not just limited to socio-economic and political systems but also integrates environmental and ecological sustainability.

Research and innovation are a major national priority in India and are conducted across a diverse group of institutions. While Research Management (RM) activities were previously integrated into researcher and other roles in India, there is now recognition that RM services rendered by professionally trained staff can reduce the administrative burden on researchers, thereby enhancing the ease of doing research. This chapter provides context on the complex higher education and research ecosystem in India, outlines the circumstances leading to the development of RM support at Indian institutions, and highlights the contributions of the India Research Management Initiative in creating a community of practice for RM. The chapter concludes with some projections for the future of RM in India.