The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has said that the country is facing an acute shortage of quality teachers and the profession of teaching needs to be made more attractive. Speaking at the Foundation Day function of the National Council for Teachers Education in New Delhi today, the Minister said that the lack of facilities like housing, pension and insurance besides the absence of better salaries and prospects, discourage better candidates from taking up the teaching profession. He added that the policies and the system of selection of teachers at the state level need to be more transparent.Talking to the newspersons, Mr Sibal said a real dialogue must be initiated with the teachers to identify and address the ground level problems facing them. He said, as the teachers have a duty towards the society, the society too has a duty towards the teachers who are the effective agents of nation building.