Need to setup National Social Work Council
By Dr Jalindar Adsule
There are educational institutions for social work in almost 145 countries around the world. In India, the 'Social Service League' was started in 1923 and in 1937, the 'Tata Institute of Social Work Science' was established, offering a master’s degree was established.
There are currently about 500 registered social work education institutes in India; These include universities, colleges and open universities. Social work colleges are located in urban and rural areas. Graduate courses like 'BSW', MSW, 'PhD' are offered in social work. In addition to degree courses like these, some institutes have started certificate programmes like diploma and para-professional course in social work. All these programmes are being implemented successfully all over India and they are in great demand by many social organisations and government projects. The University Grants Commission (UGC) based in New Delhi works towards controlling and raising the standard of higher education.
Various committees were appointed between 1965 and 1990 to evaluate social work education. In 1990 social work was evaluated. Evaluation of teaching institutes in India is carried out by the Bangalore-based division of UGC, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Most institutes teaching social work in India are covered by NAAC. It is mandatory for universities and educational institutions in India to be evaluated by NAAC. Accordingly, educational institutions have been evaluated once and some institutions three times.
Most countries have councils for social work education. I have attended conferences on social work in United Kingdom Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Japan. During the visits, I was able to get first-hand experience of the working of Social Work Councils in these countries and held discussions with office bearers of the councils in these countries.
We have Bar Councils for Advocates, Medical Councils for Doctors, their Councils for all other professional academic fields like Architects, Nursing etc. have been in existence in India for many years. Social work education in India spans more than eight decades. Vocational social work education started on an experimental basis with many generations of social workers and many social intervention models and service providers. They are working very effectively and some of them have been run by the government and other departments. This includes Child Line and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)., the Department of Social Development and Family Court. Among the people who have done remarkable work, which known to the public at large are Dr Armathi Desai, Dr R R Singh, Professor Farida Lambe, Kalindi Mujumdar, Medha Patkar and Dr Ambadas Mohite.
Despite having a long tradition of social work education and work in India, the Council for Social Work Education has not been set-up in the last eighty years. Therefore, those working in the field of social work education in India and field practitioners came together to draft a document on the structure of Social Work Council. Former President of International Social Work University Association and former Chairperson of Tata Social Organisation Dr Vimala Nadkarni was the coordinator, while Dr Armathi Desai, former Chairperson of UGC as well as of Association of Schools of Social Work in India (ASSWI), Dr R R Singh former Director Tata Institute of Social Sciences - Mumbai and Professor Gandhi Das, former Head of Department, Bangalore University Karnataka as group advisors. Among those who helped write the draft are Murli Desai Modem, Dr B Prasad, Prof Helen Joseph and Dr Shewali Kumar, all of whom played a major role in the drafting.
Features of the draft Social Work Education
This draft has 6 chapters, 29 sections and two appendices. Several important definitions are given in Chapter One of the draft.
- social work organisation means; Department of Social Work, School, College or Centre in which the teaching of social work is recognised by the University, Commission and the University concerned.
- Social work education means that it includes BSW, MSW and PhD courses.
- 'Professional Social Work' is a globally recognised academic discipline based on learning experience and has developed its knowledge, methods and methods of working with people; empathy and diversity are respected.
- Professional social work ‘social justice’ and ‘social development’; guided by Indian Constitution and is committed to global human rights and social development. Human rights, meeting basic needs. Cultural recognition, empathy, gender equality and empowerment through public participation and inclusion of disadvantaged groups for social work, analysis and development of business social worker policies and programmes, development and operation of human resources to increase participation, monitoring and evaluation at every level of society, etc.
The second chapter of the present draft elaborates on the constitution and structure of the Social Work Council. The proposed council will have a president and vice-president, who will work full time, one from each of the six zones - one representative from the professional social work organisation, as well as a government representative. The rules and their allowances are mentioned in the draft. The honorarium and travel expenses paid to them are mentioned later. An office and appointments of its staff have been mentioned to maintain continuity of the Council. The Council will be responsible for raising the standard of social work education, evaluating the curriculum and providing evenings for youth jobs among other things.
The business functions of the Social Work Education Council and their rights are mentioned in Chapter 3. It lists 21 functions and rights. It includes future plans of the council, regular evaluation of curriculum and such educational institutions, improvement of colleges, quality improvement, training of teachers working in higher education, enhancing their quality, gathering information of students, who have dropped out of social work education, research on social work education. Etc. will be the main work.
The chapter speaks about a 'Code of Ethics' to be followed by the social workers. This is on the lines of the Code of Ethics for lawyers. Similarly, registration of social workers, enhancing the quality of social workers, creating proficiency in certain subjects in social work, setting up additional programmes and creating quality in social workers for this, of course, in all these, there is a continuity in scientific approach and research. In each of the last zones of the same case, it is noted that an information centre should be set up and that the Council should be in touch with other organisations, especially the government, NGOs and educational institutions.
In order to be consistent in the work of the organisation, it is necessary to mention the administrative and work and their rights. Similarly, in Chapter-4, the work of the administrative system is recorded in detail. It mentions how to lode complaints and seek redressal of their grievances. Accounts report of these offices as well as related matters and punishments have also been recorded. Chapter 6 also mentions some other important matters.
An important part of this draft is its two appendices. Appendix 1 speaks about how the National Social Work Education Council bill was drafted, its background and purpose are mentioned. There are references to social work colleges from around the world, as well as information on history of social work education in India. The objectives of this draft are given in the same appendix.
There are twelve objectives in total. The main purpose is to create curricula, evaluate and raise standards, as well as teacher education, evaluation of institutions and enrolment of graduates in social work.
Appendix 2 lists six geographically demarcated zones of India. North-West-North-East-East-Central and South are the geographical divisions of India. The draft for the National Council of Social Work has been prepared by experts with thirty-five to forty years of experience in social work education in India. The impact of social work is now being felt in every field. It is recognised by the University Grants Commissions and by every university. This education has completed 83 years. Therefore, just like medical councils and bar councils, it is important to have a ‘Social Work Council’ in terms of the community, in terms of doing social work and in terms of gaining experience in social work.
(The author is the Principal of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College of Social Work, Dhule.)