Nishtha exercise to train 16,872 teachers in Nagaland

Our Correspondent

Kohima, Jan. 27 (EMN): The department of School Education is launching the National Initiative for School Heads and Integrated Teachers’ Holistic Advancement, or Nishtha, which is a national mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level and give new perspective of teaching and learning strategies to teachers and administrators. It is part of the centrally-sponsored Samagra Shiksha scheme.

The principal secretary for School Education Menukhol John, principal director of School Education Shanavas C, mission director of Samagra Shiksha Kevileno Angami, and assistant mission director of Samagra Shiksha, Kelhikha Kenye, spoke to the press during a press conference that was conducted on January 27 in the conference hall of the directorate of School Education in Kohima.

They informed that the Nishtha is the ‘world’s largest teachers training exercise.’ Elementary teachers and head teachers in Nagaland are to be trained by March 31 2020, to improve learning outcomes. The training programme aims to reach 16,872 elementary teachers and head teachers in the state of Nagaland.

The training programme aims at completion in five phases, comprising five days each. The first two phases will be during January 28-February 4 for 7,250 teachers. There will be a break during the high school and higher secondary school leaving examinations. The third phase will resume from the second week of March, while the fifth phase will be for the spill over period.

There are 113 resource persons in Nagaland trained by national resource persons.

Training modules provided by the NCERT will be printed and distributed to the trainees. All the teachers and head teachers deputed to participate in the programme are to mandatorily attend the training. They are required to fill pre and post tests, daily attendance though mobile applications, and that training cannot be shortened, the organisers informed.

Monitoring and supervision are to be carried out by officials from the School Education department, SCERT and the Samagra Shiksha till the training programme is completed.

They mentioned that the Samagra Shiksha has set up a control room at its office with seven MIS personnel to monitor and update the status of training conducted district-wise. Technical support will be provided to the districts and blocks.

They highlighted further some post-training activities. The Nishtha web portal will enable post-training follow-up where each state will upload training reports of about two pages as info graphics.

Each school is also required to create its own YouTube channel, upload the best practices, success stories, videos and then share the link on Nishtha for showcasing purposes and also to share the best pedagogic practices adopted by each teacher.

The selection for the best ones will be done by the NCERT. Teachers’ submissions will be evaluated by the mentors, and appropriate feedback will be provided to the teachers besides on-line support that will be provided to the teachers.

The programme aims to build the capacities of around 42 lakh participants in India, covering all teachers and heads of schools at the elementary level in all government schools, faculty members of State Councils of Educational Research and Training, district institutes of education and training as well as officials and resources persons from block resource centres (BRCs) and cluster resource centres in all states and Union Territories.

John stated that no excuse will be entertained and every teacher has to be trained although it might be inconvenient for some teachers.

“We have challenges but we do not intend to stay down and it has gone up,” he said about the department. The training will not be only in Kohima but simultaneously in all the districts, it was informed.