HRD Ministry plans measures to improve quality of teaching

The involvement of retired teachers, adopting IIM-designed modules for educational administrators and a grading system for teacher training institutes are some initiatives that the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has planned to address concerns related to shortage and quality of teaching.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Monday chaired a meeting of education ministers and officials of state governments, where it was decided to initiate a ‘pilot project’ to encourage volunteers and retired teachers to contribute to rural schools.

According to a government release, a mobile app is being developed in collaboration with MyGov platform, by the Ministry to enlist citizens willing to volunteer as teachers.

Eighteen states have expressed their willingness to participate in the first phase, the statement read, adding that these states would formulate the finer details of this plan.

Earlier, Irani had mentioned that ex-servicemen could be utilised in schools for physical training, etc.

In the meeting, it was also decided that during April-May, a 2-3-day workshop for educational administrators in higher education would be organised by the UGC in five regions across the country.

Modules for these workshops will be developed by IIMs and these modules may be adopted by the state governments, which can carry the process forward by organising similar workshops for principals and heads of other institutions, officials said.

PM Narendra Modi will take stock of the functioning of the HRD Ministry, especially in higher education sector, later this month. While a range of issues relating to the path ahead for the higher education sector would be discussed, it is also understood that matters pertaining to Central Universities also come up.