Teachers Training Programme ‘NISHTHA’ launched by HRD Ministry

Union Minister of Human Resources Development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the Integrated Teachers’ Training Programme, NISHTHA or National Initiative for School Head’s and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement in New Delhi. HRD Minister also launched NISHTHA initiative’s Website, Training Modules, Primer Booklet and Mobile App built for purpose.

The Mobile App and Learning Management System (LMS) which will be will be used for registration of Resource Persons and Teachers, training gap and impact analysis, monitoring, mentoring and measuring progress online is  based on MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment)  and have been developed by NCERT.

Key Features of NISHTHA

Objective: The Integrated Teachers’ Training Programme aims to build capacities by training around 42 lakh teachers across country.

Purpose: In a bid to boost education and employment, HRD Ministry is focusing on reskilling teaching workforce. Integrated training will motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students, handle diverse situations and act as 1st level counsellors.

Participants: It covers all teachers and Heads of school at elementary level in all government school, faculty members of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), Block Resource Coordinators and Cluster Resource Coordinators as well as other educational departments of all States and Union Territories (UTs).

NISHTHA is world’s largest teachers’ training programme of its kind. It is first of its kind initiative wherein standardized training modules are developed at national level for all states and UTs.

Training Modules: for NISHTHA have been developed by consultative process involving suggestions from states and Union Territories (UTs) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), School Principals and Non-Governmental Organizations, (NGOs) like Aurobindo Society, Kaivalya Foundation, Azim Premji Foundation and Tata Trust.

Conducting Training:  The 33120 Key Resource Persons (KRPs) and State Resource Persons (SRP) identified by State and UTs will be conducting training directly. These KRPs will in turn be trained by 120 National Resource Persons identified from National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), CBSE, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), KVS, NVS, and NGOs.

Teacher Awareness and Skill Development:

Teachers will get awareness and develop their skills on various aspects related to Learning Outcomes, Learner-centered Pedagogy, Competency Based Learning and Testing, School Safety and Security, Inclusive Education and Personal-social qualities.

Teachers will also get awareness on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in teaching-learning including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Health and well-being including yoga, Initiatives in School Education including library, kitchen garden, eco club, youth club, School Leadership qualities, Environmental Concerns, Pre-school, Pre-vocational Education and School Based Assessment in a joyful learning manner.

Significance: Teachers hold a pivotal position in society and help build character in students. Therefore, through this initiative, teachers at elementary level will be able to acquire scientific temperament and knowledge of other important educational aspects and transfer it to students.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2019