Teacher Education | Samagra Shiksha Govt. of Meghalaya

As envisaged in the National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986, and its Programme of Action (POA), a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme of Restructuring and Reorganization of Teacher Education was launched in 1987 to create a sound institutional infrastructure for pre-service and in-service training of elementary & secondary school teachers and for provision of academic resource support to elementary and secondary schools. The Scheme had, the following component:

Setting up of District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs)
Strengthening of Secondary Teachers Education Institutions into Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and Institutes of Advanced Study in Education (IASEs)
Strengthening of State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs)

Revision of the Scheme

The Central Government entrusted the National Council for Educational Research & Training (NCERT) to evaluate the Teacher Education Scheme. The NCERT submitted its Report in August, 2009. The Report contains several recommendations for revising the Scheme. The Ministry is in the process of revising the Scheme.

The Integrated Scheme for School Education treats education holistically without segmenting from Pre-school to Senior Secondary Level. However, since the concerns for quality and pedagogical perspectives of different stages of School Education are different, the scheme takes into account those concerns and provisions have been made accordingly. Thus, the integrated scheme also focuses on strengthening and expanding the role of SCERTs and DIETs to cater to the diverse needs of the teachers at different levels.

The main components of the revised scheme are as under :

Continuation of support to SCERTs/SIEs
Strengthening and re-structuring of SCERTs
Training for Educational Administrators, including Head Teachers
Orientation / Induction Training to Teacher Educators
Continuation of support to CTEs and establishment of new CTEs
Continuation of support to IASEs and establishment of new IASEs
Continuation of support to and restructuring of DIETs
Establishment of Block Institutes of Teacher Education (BITEs) for augmenting Teacher Education capacity in SC/ST and minority concentration areas
Professional Development of Teacher Educators
Technology in Teacher Education

Role and function of SCERT or Directorate of Educational Research and Training:

Academic Authority u/s 29 of the RTE Act.
Policy matters
Curriculum and Material Development
Training and related activities
Community and Children’s outreach
Inter- disciplinary Coordination
Annual and Perspective Plan

The SCERTs or DERT (Directorate of Educational Rersearch & Training)

were originally visualized to become centres of excellence in the field of elementary education. Their functions envisaged organisation of in-service training programmes for teachers and supervisory personnel, conduct of conferences and seminars for senior officers (district level and above) of Education Department. Over the years, the role of SCERTs as a state resource institution, has expanded to provide academic support at all stages of education, undertake co-ordination of all academic matters relating to school education, maintain appropriate linkages with other educational organizations and provide supervision/support to the district and sub-district level institutions.

Other major functions of the SCERTs include development of curriculum, instructional material, textbooks, conduct research programmes, provide guidance and support to state department of education and provide supplementary materials to address to the need of all children including Children with Special Needs and teachers. Further, SCERTs are also expected to perform a variety of roles for the national level institutions such as NCERT, NIEPA and NCTE, in the conduct of state level studies and surveys, as well as take the lead in some major national Initiatives such as Digital India, Skill India and Swachh Bharat, in collaboration with other state level institutions working in the area.

District Institute of Education and Training (DIETs)

DIETs were envisioned in the NPE, 1986, and were created by the Government of India, MHRD in the early 1990s to strengthen elementary education and support the decentralization of education to the district level. DIETs were conceived as the third addition- district level- tier to the support system, which would be closer to the field, and therefore more alive to its problems and needs.

The DIET is located at an important level of decentralization - the District. However, they have remained marginal to the key activities of the States in teacher professional development and school improvement; they are inadequately integrated into the State’s systems. There is, therefore, a need to reformulate the vision of this institution so that DIETs can contribute to fulfilling the mandate under the RTE Act in matters relating to continuous teacher professional development, school support and improvement.

Role & Functions of DIETs:

DIET would be nodal institution at the district level to transact pre-service and/or in-service training up to Senior Secondary level.
DIET would also be responsible for in-service training of school teachers (Classes 1 to 12), if there is no CTE for the district or the existing CTE is not able to fulfil the requirement due to inadequate capacity in relation to the total number of teachers to be trained.
DIET would also organise and support teacher professional development and leadership development programs for Head Masters, senior teachers, and School Management Committees.
DIET would serve as an Education Resource Centre for the district in conjunction with BITEs, BRCs and CRCs.
Addressing district specific material development, action research programs for special groups in the District.
Developing district academic plans and monitoring the quality of schools and teaching.
Designing interventions for direct support to schools and work with special groups in the district.
Training Management System (TMS) and Professional Development Record for teachers is required at every district to be able to consolidate and track various professional development activities undertaken by teachers at various levels. The data should preferably be available in the digital format.

Academic Support System in Meghalaya

The Government of Meghalaya under the Education Department has Directorate of Educational Research & Training (DERT) which was established in the year 1976, as an academic authority is an expert body whose main role is to bring about qualitative improvement in Education, formal and non-formal, and Teacher Education which are necessary for the development of human resources needed for all-round development of the State. The Govt. of Meghalaya also established the State Education Board called the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) and was created by the Meghalaya Act.10 of 1973. The Power and functions of the Board are as conferred under section 12 and section 23 of MBOSE Act. 1973 and as amended from time to time. Jurisdiction of MBOSE extends to the whole State of Meghalaya.

Meghalaya Right to Children to free and compulsory Education rule 2011

15. Minimum Qualification for the purposes of section 23 (1) –

1. The academic authority notified in pursuance of sub-section (1) of section 23, shall, within three months of such notification, lay down the minimum qualifications for persons to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in an elementary school.

2. The minimum qualifications laid down by the academic authority referred to in sub – Rule (1) shall be applicable for every school referred to in clause (n) of section 2.

22. Academic Authority for the purpose of section 29 –

1. The State Government shall notify the Directorate of Educational Research and Training (or its equivalent), as the academic authority for the purposes of section 29.

2. While laying down the curriculum and evaluation procedure, the academic authority notified under sub – Rule (1) shall.

(a) Formulate the relevant and age appropriate syllabus and text books and other learning material.
(b) Develop in-service teacher training design, and
(c) Prepare guidelines for putting into practice continuous and comprehensive evaluation.

3. The academic authority referred to in sub – rule (1) shall design and implement a process of holistic school quality assessment on a regular basis.