In what could be perhaps the single most defining intervention aimed at boosting school education and teaching in India, is the Government’s plan to uplift all 613 District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) in the country and convert them into DIETs of Excellence over the next five years. Financial assistance, totaling to Rs 9000 crores, will be provided to States/UTs for the physical upgradation of these DIETS under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha for improving various infrastructural facilities.
This announcement was part of several initiatives unveiled by the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, last week. Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan who made these announcements also said that, in future, all SCERTs would also be upgraded in a similar manner.
It is pertinent to mention that DIETs have had a historic role in not only setting the teaching standards in the school education across the country but are also the nerve centres of innovation and mentoring hubs for in-service teachers. However, this institutional network, was facing neglect for decades now and it was bypassed by a parallel ‘superficial’ program under erstwhile SSA. The stalled organic growth of DIETs had been showing up as teacher standards plummeted and trainings were reduced to just statistics.
Therefore, given this context, the new lease of life being infused in DIETS will mean a lot in enhancing quality teaching and mobilizing local resources and building excellence from bottom up.
Talking of other announcemnts, Pradhan also launched the National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) and National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), 52 Primers in Indian languages, printed books on NMM and NPST, various schemes/guidelines with Video of SCERTs/DIETs; Video of Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) and 200 TV Channels. “These initiatives will create a seamless and futuristic learning landscape, promote learning in Indian languages, realise the vision of NEP 2020 and holistically transform school education,” he said. Reiterating the message that language is power and learning in mother tongue is transformational, Shri Pradhan said that the 52 Primers in Indian languages have paved the way for the beginning of a new civilizational renaissance.
NMM
The NEP 2020 has laid the framework for transforming the education system and the National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) aims to provide valuable support and guidance to our dedicated teachers, ensuring their professional growth and empowering them to create a strong educational foundation for our students. The mission will run through a dedicated digital platform. Teachers will have access to quality mentoring sessions from experienced professionals as Mentors, catering to the diverse needs of learners with varying abilities.
The Bluebook on NMM was finalized after incorporating the feedback/suggestions received as a result of in-house consultations, 15 Open House Discussions, inputs received from the pilot, other stakeholders’ discussions and outreach programmes. The Bluebook on NMM will be translated into the 22 scheduled languages, Braille and Audiobooks for wider circulation across the country.
NPST
The National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), as envisioned in NEP 2020, focuses on improving the teachers’ personal and professional development by providing them with an understanding of what is expected in terms of their performance and what needs to be done to enhance the same. NPST Guiding Document ensures that all students at different levels/stages of school education are taught by passionate, motivated, highly qualified, professionally trained, and well-equipped teachers. It is a statement of quality and defines the competencies of teachers at different stages/levels. Its implementation needs collective efforts of the Centre, States, UTs, HEIs, Regulating Agencies / Regulatory Bodies and all other relevant stakeholders.The NPST Guiding Document will be translated into the 22 scheduled languages, Braille and Audiobooks for wider circulation across the country.
52 Primers in Indian languages
The 52 Primers in Indian languages is going to be a transformational step for young learners, especially for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), providing them access to education in their mother tongue/local language. It will initiate an inspirational journey for young minds, paving the way for deeper understanding, lifelong learning, more familiarity and rootedness in indigenous culture and greater success in academics and beyond.
PMeVidya:
Launch of 200 DTH TV Channels under PMeVidya DTH TV Channels for School Education is an integral component of the PMeVidya Initiative which is aimed at unifying all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. To enable multi-mode resilient as well as coherent access to education, the PMeVidya DTH TV Channels are also made available on various platforms in addition to TV and radio facilitating design, development and dissemination of quality eContents for free.
National Vidya Samiksha Kendra
NCERT has made National Vidya Samiksha Kendra functional for facilitating research and development and capacity building program. Now, the National Vidya Samiksha Kendra has been integrated with their state counterparts. It has currently enabled visibility, insights, and actionability across 11 programs. National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA), DIKSHA, Energized Textbooks (ETBs), NIPUN Bharat initiative for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, NCERT Quiz, National Achievement Survey, Performance Grading Index (PGI), Unified District Information System for Education Plus, PM Poshan, National Curriculum Framework (NCF), Micro-Improvements program (recognition of best pedagogy practices) & PRASHAST (A Disability Screening Checklist for Schools) and PM SHRI.
