Kolkata: The Bengal government will encourage sharing of institutional resources and infrastructure among educational institutions, from school up to the higher educational level, Education minister Bratya Basu said on Friday.
Basu attended a virtual meeting with all district magistrates to discuss the ‘hub of learning through cluster approach for schools and higher educational institutions” project of the state government.
He told reporters that the project aimed at facilitating collaborative learning and capacity building for both students and teachers.
“As part of the project, there will be teacher exchange programmes and collaboration in teaching-learning on various components like computer education, latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science,” the minister said.
College and university teachers will lecture on different subjects outside the curriculum to school students as guest faculty, he said.
The state government seeks to revamp its existing education system starting from pre-primary to higher education level as envisaged in the new State Education Policy, Basu said. In April, the School Education Department issued the “Guidelines on Hubs of Learning’ through cluster approach for the government and government-aided schools.
Meanwhile, five districts presented their comprehensive action plan on creating better opportunities and facilities to students and faculty of schools and colleges till December before the state Education minister Bratya Basu on Friday.
Basu said the higher education department, after consultation with all stakeholders, has decided to form composite clusters consisting of schools, general and technical colleges and universities.
Students will be encouraged to participate in exposure visits, seminars, career counselling sessions, vocational courses, imparting soft skills, and training for competitive examinations, he added.
An education department statement said that 20 composite clusters across 17 districts have been formed in the first phase.