A Study of the Attitude of the PUC Students towards Four Year Integrated B.Ed. Programme

The teacher’s shape destiny of students and that of the future citizens who eventually shape the destiny of the country. Good teachers can be produced only when we have an effective teacher education program. Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school, and wider community. The MHRD, Government of India, has brought out four years of integrated B.Ed. Program throughout the country in 2019. It is necessary to know the attitude of PUC students who are future teachers as their attitude can play a significant role in the character building and development of students in the future to whom they are going to teach and in the successful implementation of four years B.Ed. Programme. The investigator could not find any study about the attitude of PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme. Hence the present study is an attempt in this direction to investigate the attitude of PUC students towards four years integrated B.Ed. Programme and teaching profession. The survey method was used for the present study. For the present study, the researcher had constructed the five-point attitude scale to measure the attitude of PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme. The PUC students in Bangalore north comprised the population for the present study. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the sample of ninety-six PUC students covering Arts and Science streamlines from four collages in Bangalore north. The data were statistically analyzed and interpreted.


Introduction
Education is a powerful force in the life of the man, which is instrumental in shaping the destiny of the individual and the future of humanity. It can be considered as the most crucial investment in human development. The whole process of education is shaped by a human personality that is the teacher who plays a pivotal role in any system of education. The teacher's shape destiny of students and that of the future citizens who eventually shape the destiny of the country. But only a teacher with sufficient competencies can render effective and efficient service and help in the all-round development of younger generations. If teachers acquire professional competencies and commitment, then high-quality learning can be achieved by bringing about positive changes in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor areas of human development of their pupils.
Good teachers can be produced only when we have an effective teacher education program. Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school, and wider community. The constant revitalization and strengthening of the teacher education system are, therefore, a powerful means for the upliftment of education standards in society. It can make the teachers professionally competent, flexible, and inculcate crucial pedagogical skills to meet the changing needs and demands of society.

Need & Significance of the Study
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), New Delhi, to enhance the quality of teacher education programs has notified revised regulations in the year 2014. The duration of B.Ed., and M.Ed., programs were enhanced to two years. It proposed a course structure for Two Year B.Ed. Programme to offer comprehensive coverage of themes and rigorous field engagement of prospective teachers with the child/student, school, and community. In 2018, policymakers, educationists, etc. have proposed four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme as they felt that the present Two-year B.Ed. The program is general may not prepare full-pledged quality teachers. It was felt that only deserving students opt for the teacher's training program by making it similar to B.E. and M.B.B.S. degrees. Accordingly, the MHRD Government of India has brought out four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme throughout the country. Integrated B.Ed. The program can be said to be a Dual Degree program. At the end of the program, a student will obtain two Degrees. The two Integrated B.Ed. programs introduced by the MHRD are B.Sc. + B.Ed. and B.A. + B.Ed.
The PUC students and their parents in India tend to prefer courses like professional courses like Engineering, MBBS, and Law. Because they consider these professions to give fame, status, and a good salary. The four years of integrated course gives an opportunity only for Science & Arts streams. Other streams like Commerce are not considered. It is necessary to know the attitude of PUC students who are future teachers as their attitude can play a significant role in the character building and development of students in the future to whom they are going to teach and in the successful implementation of four years B.Ed. Programme. The investigator could not find any study about the attitude of PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme. Hence the present study is an attempt in this direction to investigate the attitude of PUC students towards four years integrated B.Ed. Programme and teaching profession. Hypotheses H 0 1: There is no significant difference in the attitude of male and female PUC students towards the four years integrated B.Ed. Programme.

Statement of the Problem
H 0 2: There is no significant difference in the attitude of urban and rural PUC students towards the four years integrated B.Ed. Programme.
H 0 3: There is no significant difference in the attitude of Science and Arts PUC students towards the four years integrated B.Ed. Programme.

Method of the Study
The survey method was used for the present study.

Tool
For the present study, the researcher had constructed the five-point attitude scale to measure the attitude of PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme. The tool was validated for its content by experts. The final tool has eighteen positive statements. After careful editing and scrutiny researcher found eighteen statements specific and suitable for the level of P.U.C. students. Efforts were made to improve the language of and to remove ambiguity in these items /statements to make them understandable to the P.U.C. students.

Sampling
The PUC students in Bangalore north comprised the population for the present study. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the sample. The sample consists of ninety-six PUC students covering Arts and Science streamlines from four collages in Bangalore north.

Sampling Procedure
For the present study, the researcher has selected ninety-six (96) second year PUC students of the year 2018-19 from the four different colleges in Bangalore. The researcher obtained permission from the head of institutions of the PUC for administering the attitude scale among the second year PUC students. They were told that their responses would be kept confidential hence asked to answer freely without any hesitation. After giving necessary instruction, the investigator requested them to tick against each statement. Sufficient time was given to students to give responses on the attitude scale. However, it was observed that most of them took 20 to 25 minutes to respond to all the statements. The obtained responses of the PUC students on the attitude scale towards four years integrated B.Ed. The Programme were scored, and they were subjected to statistical analysis.

Statistical Analysis and Interpretation of Data
H 0 1: There is no significant difference in the attitude of male and female PUC students towards the four years integrated B.Ed. Programme.  Table 2 shows that the obtained "t" value 0.39 is less than the tabled "t" value 1.98, and "p" value 0.698 is greater than tabled "p" value 0.05 level of significance with a degree of freedom 96. So the null hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no significant difference in the attitude of male and female PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Program.
The below graph shows that the mean value of male PUC students is slightly higher than the mean value of female PUC students. This means that male PUC students have a slightly better attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme.
H 0 2: There is no significant difference in the attitude of urban and rural PUC students towards the four years integrated B.Ed. Programme.  Table 3 shows that the obtained "t" value 1.49 is less than the tabled "t" value 1.98, and "p" value 0.142 is greater than tabled "p" value 0.05 level of significance with a degree of freedom 96. So the null hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no significant difference in the attitude of urban and rural PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme.
The below graph shows that the mean value of urban PUC students is less than the mean value of rural PUC students. This means that rural PUC students have a better attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme.
H 0 3: There is no significant difference in the attitude of arts and science PUC students towards the four years integrated B.Ed. program.  Table 4 shows that the obtained "t" value 2.92 is more than the table. The tabled "t" value 1.98 and "p" value 0.005 is less than the tabled "p" value 0.05 level of significance with a degree of freedom 96. So the null hypothesis is rejected. This means that science and arts PUC students differ in their attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Program.
The graph shows that the mean value of science PUC students is higher than the mean value of Arts PUC students. This means that science PUC students have a better attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed. The program than arts PUC students.

Major Findings
The significant findings of the present project work reveal that: 1. There is no significant difference in the attitude of male and female PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. program. However, male PUC students have a slightly better attitude than female PUC Students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. program. 2. There is no significant difference in attitude of urban and rural PUC students towards four years integrated B.Ed. Programme. However, rural PUC students have a better attitude than urban PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme.

Science and arts PUC students differ in their
attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed.
Programme. Science PUC students have a better attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed. The program than arts PUC students. 4. On the whole, most of the PUC students moderate attitude towards four years of integrated B.Ed. The program, irrespective of their discipline, gender, and place of residence. 5. The greater part of the second year P.U.C. students irrespective of their discipline, gender, and place of residence have shown a favorable attitude towards the teaching profession as a noble profession, and they have an urge to become a teacher. 6. Most of the second year P.U.C. students, irrespective of their discipline, gender, and place of residence, have an opinion that the four years integrated B.Ed. The program can make the teaching profession more proficient and four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme reduce the shortage of qualified teachers. 7. Most of the second year P.U.C. students agree that four years integrated B.Ed. The program can bring content mastery and helps in the development of various teaching skills. 8. Most of the second year PUC students are aware of the four years integrated B.Ed. Programme. to take various inputs to give more professional substance to the four years integrated teacher education program. 8. The MHRD can make efforts to have an interactive program with the Pre-university college students and their parents to clear the misconceptions and stress the importance of the teaching profession, thereby motivating them to consider four years of integrated teacher education as one of the best options in pursuing higher education.

Limitations of the Study
The present project has the following limitations:

Conclusion
Teacher education in India has entered a new phase. The introduction of four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme is a major step towards a more thorough professionalization of teacher education program on par with other professional programs in India. The researcher has atteman pted to study the attitude of PUC students towards four years of integrated B.Ed. Programme. Given the moderate attitude on the part of majority, PUC students towards four years integrated B.Ed. The programme, it is important to make the program more relevant, techno-savvy, etc. to attract more and more PUC students.