Enhancing the quality of teaching and building their capacity has been at the centre stage of Indian policy discourse recently, especially after National Education Policy 2020 had rightly highlighted its importance. Technical education has assumed more significance considering the rapidly changing competitive technological scenario and ever-increasing global connectivity.
In the past decade the number of technical institutes have rapidly risen and as of 2018, 30,000 teachers are being recruited into these institutes every year.
Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan on May 23 suggested that IITs provide mentorship to National Institute of Technical Teachers Training & Research (NITTTR) for up-skilling teachers.
The move will help teachers be updated about the latest technological developments and also correlate their teaching to these developments.
NITTTR
National Institutes of Technical Teachers’ Training & Research (NITTTR) was established in the country as Technical Teachers’ Training Institute (TTTI).
India has four such institutes in Kolkata, Chandigarh, Bhopal & Chennai. They are fully centrally funded autonomous institutions for providing pre & in-service training to the teachers and staff of Degree and Diploma level training institutions and also for conducting various activities related to quality improvement of technical education system of the country.
Union Minister said that technology must be leveraged to equip teachers with necessary skills to prepare for the challenges of future. He said that necessary administrative framework shall be created to drive this initiative. He also called for working towards greater synergy between academia, industry and policy makers.
Though NITTTRs are specialised institutions dedicated to Technical Teacher Training, some of the IITs having management & educational technology departments had been given the mandate to be mentoring institutions, as per the technical teachers’ training policy developed by the government in 2018.
It envisages IITs to develop resource persons (i.e. training the trainers) and also the training curriculum and resource material through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). They will also be helping other Teacher Training Centers through MOOCs, offer guidance and monitor their efficacy besides that of the training activities. They will also be engaged in continuous action research to augment the quality of training.
Technology in teacher education
India is a global leader in information and communication technology and in other cutting-edge domains. The Digital India Campaign is helping to transform the entire nation into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
New technologies involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chains, smart boards, handheld computing devices, adaptive computer testing for student development, and other forms of educational software and hardware will not just change what students learn in the classroom but how they learn, and thus these areas and beyond will require extensive research both on the technological as well as educational fronts.
The move will equip students with better understanding of technical concepts and will inspire the best to enter into the teaching profession.
NEP 2020 provides for an autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration, and so on, both for school and higher education.
Union Minister had earlier on May 17 reviewed the report on institutional mechanism for capacity building of teacher/faculty in higher education institutes.
The Minister called for a “Malaviya Mission” to develop an enabling ecosystem across the country for teacher education/faculty development.
One component of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching is to address shortcomings relating to teachers and teaching in technical education institutes using the best international practices for excellence, with focus on ICT and technology enabled training.
